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Relinquishing power: the UK has bowed to EU rulings The UK government will redeem its so-called golden shares in Britain's five biggest energy companies in the wake of a series of rulings by the European Court of Justice that the special share arrangements violate EU law.

Legal harmonization is welcome. But practical systems for getting information to investors could do more to encourage a European wide capital market, says Brian McCall

New rules exempting non-US banks from insider lending restrictions came into force last month.

Questions remain over the rights of creditors in second lien debt transactions. Neil Cummings and Kirk Davenport explain

The trust system in Korea will be overhauled to permit trusts consisting of several types of properties under one umbrella. The type of properties eligible for trusts will also be expanded to include various intellectual and industrial property rights.

On June 1 2004, the Administrative Measures for Foreign Investment in the Commercial Field (known as the Commercial Measures), promulgated by the Ministry of Commerce on April 16 2004, will take effect. The Commercial Measures will replace the Measures Concerning Pilot Projects for Commercial Enterprises with Foreign Investment, effective since June 25 1999. Consistent with China's World Trade Organization commitments, the Commercial Measures have abolished the entrance criteria (such as minimum annual turnover for the past three years and minimum asset value for the past year) for foreign investors wishing to engage in commission agents, wholesale, retail and franchise businesses (that is, so-called distribution businesses). Also, foreign invested retailers no longer need to restrict the total annual amount of imported merchandise to more than 30% of the amount of its merchandise sales each year.

This spring, the Canadian Competition Bureau released for public comment a revised version of its Merger Enforcement Guidelines (MEGs), the document that explains how the Bureau analyzes proposed mergers. The Bureau is in the process of reviewing comments provided by various stakeholders and plans to finalize the revised MEGs this summer.

The Hong Kong government recently completed Asia's first asset-backed deal to be sold to retail buyers. Stephen Roith, Mary Matson, Connie Heng and Gareth Old look at how the transaction was structured

Tube Lines' £2.1 billion ($3.7 billion) bond issue last month used a novel structure that lawyers say will open a new source of investment in project financing.

Christian Pilkington explains how Europe’s Credit Institutions Directive will simplify insolvency proceedings in the banking industry