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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

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

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.

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.

A new law that governs financial guarantee contracts, Decree-law 105/2004 of May 8, entered into force in June 2004. Decree law 105/2004 transposes EU Directive 2002/47/EU into Portuguese law.

In July 2004 the Jakarta Stock Exchange (JSX) issued a decree that revisits the requirements and procedures for delisting and relisting on the stock exchange. Certain provisions under a decree of the JSX board of directors made in 2000 were declared invalid.

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 connection with the integration of the securities exchanges within the Nordic and Baltic regions, the Helsinki Stock Exchange (OMX) began applying the Norex member rules as of September 27 2004. At this date, the Helsinki Stock Exchange, as well as the Tallin and Riga stock exchanges, began using the same electronic trading system as the Stockholm Stock Exchange (Saxess) and the trading hours of the equity and derivatives markets of the Helsinki Stock Exchange and Stockholm Stock Exchange were harmonized.

The first senior fixed rate bond from a Hong Kong incorporated bank and a new high-yield bond from China have kept several English law firms busy in Asia.

A Ninth Circuit decision on loss causation in securities class actions has stirred controversy among banks. Ben Maiden reports from New York