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A new Companies Act is proposed to replace the existing Companies Act of 1956. The new legislation aims to simplify and be more responsive to current situations, but some aspects of the concept paper are unlikely to be conducive to corporate and commercial expectations.

Good corporate governance has in recent years been an important topic for Danish listed companies and for many of the largest unlisted companies and institutions. The compliance discussion has also become an integral part of these companies' interest in the principles of good management, and it has become a part of everyday life for Danish institutional investors.

In July 2004, the Finnish Financial Supervision Authority (FSA) issued a statement on the interpretation of certain provisions of the Investment Funds Act on marketing of units in foreign investment funds in Finland.

The Insolvency (Amendment and Consequential Provisions) Act 2004 was passed in July. The amendments were a necessary precondition to the Insolvency Act 2003 Act, which came into force on August 16 2004.

The SEC last month put in place two of the final pieces of the most radical regulatory overhaul of the US mutual funds industry in 60 years. On August 18 the Commission voted to ban the practice of directed brokerage and to increase disclosure about portfolio managers, leaving just three rules in its year-long plan to be passed.

The UK market regulator is investigating Citigroup's unusual trading behaviour in the government Eurobond market. In August Citigroup sold over €10 billion ($12 billion) of government bonds in a matter of minutes, causing the market to fall and allowing Citigroup to buy back about €4 billion of the same bonds at a lower price later the same day. The trades did not breach any specific securities laws but the regulator is to decide whether Citigroup acted "with regard to the consequences of its actions".

A recent decision in Canada illustrates the increased exposure of directors and officers to personal liability in Canada. In Kerr v Danier Leather Inc the Superior Court of Justice of Ontario imposed liability on the CEO and CFO of Danier for making misrepresentations in a prospectus.

The first board of directors of the Capital Markets Authority (CMA), and its first chairman, the recent deputy governor of the Saudi Arabian Monetary Agency, Jummaz Al Suhaimi, have been appointed by Royal Decree A/114, dated 1 July 2004.

Japan's revised bankruptcy law was enacted in May 2004 and is expected to come into effect in January 2005. This follows the introduction of the Civil Rehabilitation Law in April 2000 and the revised Corporate Reorganization Law in April 2003. The purpose of these laws is to rehabilitate debtors, but the aim of the new bankruptcy law is to provide modernized procedures for the efficient liquidation of debtors and the fair distribution of debtors' assets.

Good faith is the most essential part of a contract among parties to an agreement. During the financial crisis in Indonesia, creditors have been facing difficulties when trying to recoup their investment, especially from debtors who lack good faith. The standard operating procedure of those debtors involves hiding their assets beyond the creditors' reach by transferring them out to obscure related parties. This is particularly relevant for unsecured creditors that do not have specific assets encumbered as collateral for the underlying loans. Unsecured creditors need to find the debtors' assets before they are able to attach such assets to satisfy their claims. It then comes naturally for bad faith debtors to try to transfer their assets out and leave the companies empty should the creditors obtain a judgment to have their monies back.