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One of Boston's most prominent venture capital law firms, Testa Hurwitz & Thibeault, will shut down following a vote by its partnership in mid-January. The firm pointed to the departure of 10 partners in early December and its subsequent failure to secure a merger, despite holding talks with various firms, as the reasons behind the decision to dissolve the remaining partnership. "A law firm such as ours, although prominent, profitable and filled with talented lawyers is - like any professional services organization - knit of a fabric that, if stretched too thin, can unravel," said managing partner George Davitt. A player in the Boston legal market for 30 years, Testa Hurwitz has been well known for its work in venture capital and private equity, including a fund formation practice.

For years lawyers in The Netherlands have pondered whether a creditor has the option of seizing the unused portion of a line of credit that the creditor's debtor maintains with its bank. It all started in 2001 with the decision of the German Supreme Court (Bundesgerichtshof) dated March 29 2003 answering the question in the affirmative. Almost instantly it was said that the outcome of a Netherlands seizure on the unused portion of a line of credit with a Netherlands bank could be identical or similar to the German conclusion. So all eyes were on the Supreme Court of The Netherlands (Hoge Raad der Nederlanden) as the most senior court to settle the matter, which it duly did in a ruling handed down on October 29 2004.

On January 12 2005, the government repealed the contentious Press Note 18 (PN 18) dealing with foreign financial or technical collaboration under the automatic approval route.

The BVI Business Companies Act (the Act) came into force on January 1 2005. Unlike the International Business Companies Act (the IBC Act), this single statute allows for the incorporation of international offshore companies as well as locally owned companies doing business in the BVI. For a two-year transition period, both the IBC Act and the new Act will be in force. After the two years, the new Act will be the sole corporate statue for the BVI and will regulate all BVI companies.

In a news story in the January issue of IFLR, it was wrongly reported that Linklaters advised Pemex on the Mexican company's recent perpetual bond issue. In fact Linklaters advised the underwriters and Cleary Gottlieb advised Pemex on the issue.

Boxclever: maintenance problems killed the deal German state-owned bank WestLB has finally rid itself of UK TV rental company Boxclever, almost two years after its securitization deal fell apart.

State-owned German bank HSH Nordbank's suit against Barclays Capital, the investment banking arm of Barclays Bank, over losses on structured finance products is due to start on February 21.

Andreas Mayr and Tibor Varga, Dorda Brugger Jordis Dorda Brugger Jordis partners Andreas Mayr and Tibor Varga have advised on the largest ever capital market transaction on the Vienna Stock Exchange.

In last year's IFLR Guide to Private Equity and Venture Capital, we cautiously heralded the return of the private equity and venture capital industry. This was prompted by a marked increase both in the number of private equity deals completed, and the total amount of funds invested ($57 billion globally, according to a PricewaterhouseCoopers survey) in the first six months of 2003.

China: new frontier for foreign buyout funds Jonathan Z Zhou of Fangda Partners says China is getting better at accommodating foreign investment. But restrictions remain, and not all foreign money is welcome