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Historically, independent directors of offshore hedge funds and managers were often appointed with the sole intention of fulfilling a limited but important function in relation to UK tax planning - to maintain the offshore tax status of the fund and its manager. The calibre and experience of the directors was often of limited concern. The annual cost usually was. However, recent hedge fund litigation, the issue of SEC guidelines on independent directors for US mutual funds, the recent UK Inland Revenue initiatives and corporate scandals in Houston and Parma have led to a new focus on the issue of corporate governance.

Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer and White & Case helped structure a recent securitization for Rosbank to achieve a rating higher than that of the originator. The Eurobond backed by credit card receivables won a B-plus rating, a level higher than that assigned to the parent bank thanks to the negation of Russian currency risk and a solid security package to protect investors.

HKMC adapted an existing debt programme to achieve the first retail offering of mortgage-backed bonds in Hong Kong. Adrienne Showering and Lydia Lye explain how

Japanese issuers must overhaul their reporting practices to avoid the attention of increasingly intolerant regulators intent on improving investor confidence. Andrew Crooke reports

Bankers in Asia are tapping markets from Thailand to Taiwan amid regulators' growing acceptance of credit derivative products, reports Andrew Crooke

General counsel at international companies are going to increasing lengths to ensure compliance with corporate governance codes.

Rating agency Standard & Poor's has confirmed that, for rating purposes, true-sale assignment in Germany is valid, despite a court decision to the contrary in May 2004.

Former regulator: Ashley Alder By shifting its focus from front-end vetting to enforcement, Hong Kong's Securities and Futures Commission (SFC) has addressed some of the market's concerns about overregulation and under-enforcement, said Ashley Alder, the SFC's former head of corporate finance.

The scope of Islamic financing has expanded in Europe with the first Sharia-compliant leveraged buyout.

In an attempt to increase certainty for investors in emerging market debt, trade bodies have endorsed a standard form of collective action clauses (CACs) governed by English law.