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The Korean government has combined the Securities Investment Trust Business Act and the Securities Investment Company Act to create the Indirect Investment Asset Management Business Act, covering both investment trusts and investment companies. Under the new Act, effective from January 4 2004, a single set of regulations governs all types of asset management. The new Act strengthens the protection available to investors and expands the scope of assets subject to management.

Sandeep Parekh of PH Parekh & Co examines a favourable judgment that will bring certainty to investors in India

A tough stance from the UK government forced competing creditors to compromise on the British Energy restructuring. By Emma Barraclough

Foreign investors may want to choose arbitration rather than local courts in Indonesia, says John Savage

Ukraine's Land Code has been amended to extend the right to own land to Ukrainian-foreign joint ventures. The law, On Amendments to Article 82 of the Land Code of Ukraine, passed on July 10 2003, has on the whole improved the position of Ukrainian companies with foreign investment in respect of land rights. Article 82 of the Code has been reworded so as to extend the right to purchase, sell, hold title to and exercise proprietary rights over non-agricultural land in Ukraine to joint ventures founded in part by foreign legal entities or individuals. Before these amendments, such entities were not permitted to acquire or own non-agricultural land in Ukraine.

Herbert Smith and Stibbe advised European IT group Getronics on a €100 million ($117 million) convertible bond, one of the first European deals to use coupon escrow to secure interest payments.

The Basel Committee has heeded industry concerns and is dropping the requirement for banks to hold capital against expected losses.

Andrew Sheng, chairman, Securities and Futures Commission of Hong Kong

Dematerialized shares are shares for which no certificates may be issued. Now Japanese joint-stock companies are generally required to issue share certificates. Many public companies' share certificates are deposited at the Japan Securities Depository Center, Incorporated (JASDEC), the central securities depository providing both depository and book-entry settlement services for marketable securities. For share certificates that have been deposited at JASDEC, no physical delivery of them is required in order to effect a transfer of shares. In September 2003, the Legislative Council of the Ministry of Justice published an outline for a new law, expected to be passed in 2003 or 2004, which will eliminate the issuance and use of share certificates of public companies and certain non-public companies.

The Ministry of Finance is in the process of making an integral revision of supervisory legislation reform in the financial services industry. The entire legislation on financial supervision must be revized as a result of the interaction between various financial sector and the required improvements to financial supervision. The Ministry of Finance has commenced consultation with the financial industry on the first part of the new legislation in connection with this revision.