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Corporate governance scandals, regulatory investigations and class action lawsuits are an enduring worry for company management operating in the US market. Robert Mollen and Dixie Johnson set down rules for avoiding a crisis or managing one when it happens

To address what was seen as an escalating national credit problem, an amr sami (high order) on personal loans was issued by the head of state on February 27 1995.

The issuance in July of the much-anticipated request for proposal (RFP) for the independent water and power project (IWPP) at Shouaiba (in western Saudi Arabia, near Jeddah) is creating a new template for project financing as the move toward privatization of power and water production in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia begins in earnest. At stake under the RFP is a 60% interest in the project company that will develop, own and operate the oil-fired plant.

On April 21 2004, a special working group called the Code Group presented a proposal for a Swedish code of corporate governance. The Code Group consists of representatives from the Government Commission on Business Confidence and representatives of listed companies, investors and the Stockholm Stock Exchange.

The South Korean government has announced measures to counter increasing cases of violations of reporting requirements with respect to share acquisitions of mutual savings banks (MSBs). These violations have made it more difficult for regulators to enforce loan restrictions on the principal shareholders of MSBs. The Financial Supervisory Service (FSS) announced that it would provide stiffer penalties for individuals who have violated such requirements. These violations usually involve acquiring shares of MSBs to intentionally postpone or evade the pre-acquisition and pre-approval filings with the FSS or to misrepresent the true nature of the holdings by registering in another person's name.

Royal Decree 78/2004 has been issued, which promulgates the law regulating and privatizing the electricity and water sector in Oman.

The Russian Law On Joint Stock Companies (the JSC Law) has been amended with effect from March 15 2004. The following amendments were introduced:

Foreign investors have always viewed Press Note 18 with apprehension because it does not allow them to proceed with investments if they have taken part in previous local ventures in the same field to proceed unless the investment is backed by a no-objection certificate (NOC) from the previous local partner. This has in some cases resulted in near blackmail of the foreign investor, as obtaining an NOC became a mandatory pre-requisite for entry into India.

Five years from now, certificates will not be issued for the shares of Japanese public companies. All Japanese joint-stock companies are generally required to issue share certificates, and the transfer of shares is effected by delivery of share certificates. Also, for public companies, share transfers may be effected by entry in a book maintained by a central securities depository system, provided issued share certificates are deposited with the system. An amendment to the Commercial Code was approved in June 2004 that abolishes the use of physical share certificates. Within five years, a new book-entry system will be established, under which transfer of shares will generally be effected by debit and credit of shares between the relevant parties' accounts, and all public companies will be deemed to adopt this system. When this new system is established, all existing share certificates of public companies will become null and void.

In the Netherlands Civil Code (the NCC) there is a fairly odd article 1:88 that provides that a person requires the consent of his or her spouse for certain legal transactions. One of the mentioned transactions is instalment buying (koop op afbetaling), with an exception for objects (zaken) that only or mainly serve for the normal conduct of the person's profession or business. The consent must be given in writing if the law states a formality must be carried out to perform the legal transaction. Any legal transaction performed by a spouse in breach of this article is voidable. Only the other spouse may claim a ground for avoidance.