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The UK's linked presentation approach to accounting for structured finance deals will form the basis for new proposals being put to the International Accounting Standards Board (IASB) by industry representatives.

As Hong Kong toughens its stance on enforcement, Jill Wong asks how bankers can reconcile their duty of confidentiality to clients with the obligation to disclose information to regulators

The Swiss Federal Statute on Mergers, Spin-offs, Conversions and Transfers of Assets (the Merger Law) entered into effect on July 1 2004. It offers companies more flexibility but also creates more risk. Although the Merger Law focuses only on the four above-mentioned types of transactions, it applies not only to corporations and other legal entities but also to partnerships, sole proprietorships, pension funds and, to a certain extent, public institutions.

The Ministry of Finance and Economy (Mofe) has presented a draft amendment of the Collective Investment Asset Management Business Act (CIAMBA) to include a new chapter on private equity funds and hedge funds (private investment vehicles).

Prompted by the transition from real estate-based financing to cashflow-based financing, the Ministry of Justice is considering a new registration system to record the transfer of title to movable assets, such as inventory and equipment. The new system would facilitate financial transactions involving chattel mortgages by making such mortgages more reliable and secure.

The Ministry for Economy and Finance enacted on May 27 2004 a Circular on interpretation of the Decree of December 1 2003, n 389 (Decree 389) (see IFLR, International briefings, March 2004) regulating, among other things, derivative transactions for Italian local authorities and regions.

The commercial court of Central Jakarta recently declared the Indonesian subsidiary of Prudential bankrupt. The bankruptcy of Prudential Indonesia, which remains one of the strongest insurance companies in Indonesia, was declared based on a petition filed by one of its former agents, Lee Bon Siong, for unpaid bonuses to the total of Rp5.7 billion ($612,900). This declaration has once again drawn a lot of attention to the Indonesian legal system, particularly from the British government and the international business community.

Unfortunately, India does not have a Data Protection Act. However, last month the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) issued a directive to all banks prohibiting them from disclosing data provided by customers to the banks under the Know your customer (KYC) guidelines while opening their bank account with such banks. Under the KYC guidelines, banks must ensure appropriate customer identification aimed at monitoring transactions of suspicious nature, money laundering and for countering terrorist finance.

The Hong Kong Securities and Futures Commission showed its harsh approach to any breach of regulatory requirements recently when it decided to revoke the investment adviser licence of Pacific Sun Investment Management (Hong Kong) Limited and its founder and portfolio manager, Andy Mantel.

On May 25 2004 the Brazilian Securities Commission (the Comissão de Valores Mobliliários or CVM) granted a waiver requested by a first time issuer and allowed a proposed initial public offering of shares to proceed despite the absence of a feasibility study otherwise required by CVM Regulation 400 of December 29 2003.