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Italian entities acting as borrowers or issuers of financial instruments in international financial transactions with foreign EU counterparties often accept to submit any controversy that may arise to the jurisdiction of a foreign court located in an EU member state.

For more than 50 years successive Irish governments have used targeted fiscal measures to attract and retain international investment in Ireland. It is clear from Budget 2004, which was approved by the Irish parliament on December 3 2003, that this strategy continues to be the cornerstone of Irish government policy in relation to foreign direct investment.

Over recent years the Indonesian Tax Office has sought to increase state revenue from the collection of taxes. The government has set up a specialized Tax Court under Law No 14 Year 2003 to replace the existing Tax Dispute Settlement Body. The Court operates under the auspices of the Supreme Court, Ministry of Justice and Human Right (MoJ) and, to a certain extent, the Ministry of Finance (MoF) for examining an appeal over tax authority stipulation. Any decision rendered by the judge is considered as binding on both parties and the remedy would possibly be through a civil review. A tax bearer may use qualified and authorized tax attorneys to provide advice or representation. Further, decree of MoF No 450 Year 2003 has ruled that only Indonesian citizens licensed by the chairman of the Tax Court and empowered with specific power of attorney may act as tax attorneys. The Court also supervises the conduct of tax attorneys during hearings. Previously, tax disputes were settled by the Tax Dispute Settlement Body, which was created by Law No 17 Year 1997.

Overseas Corporate Bodies (OCBs) have been de-recognized as a separate class of investor entity in India and will now be treated the same as any other foreign incorporated company. This decision follows a review by India's Reserve Bank of the investment activities of OCBs, based on the recommendations of the Joint Parliamentary Committee on Security Market Scams.

On December 2 2003, a working group nominated by HEX Integrated Markets, the Central Chamber of Commerce of Finland and the Confederation of Finnish Industry and Employers published a new Finnish Corporate Governance Recommendation. The Recommendation is a result of the working group's review of the previous corporate governance recommendation for Finnish listed companies issued in 1997.

Denmark adopted a new Act on Investment Associations, Special-Purpose Associations and other collective investment schemes (CIS) on December 4 2003. The Act implements part of the UCITS Directive (Council Directive 85/611/EEC as amended) and introduces a couple of new features. The Act will in all material respects come into force on January 1 2004.

Ratings agencies Fitch and Standard & Poor's have both issued reports criticizing credit derivatives.

European finance ministers have rejected quarterly reporting for companies. The European Commission wanted all the EU's 7,000 listed companies to move to a US system of quarterly reporting, but a compromise over the terms of the forthcoming Transparency Directive will allow listed companies to publish audited financial statements only twice a year, with a general description of their financial position.

Orrick Herrington & Sutcliffe strengthened its real estate finance and securitization practices recently in Tokyo after hiring senior Skadden Arps Slate Meagher & Flom specialist Mark Brooks as a partner.

Banks fear they could face client lawsuits for reporting suspicious transactions under Europe's new Market Abuse Directive. Firms led by the European Banking Federation have proposed changes to the implementation rules for the Directive to protect the industry.