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On May 14 2003 a bill was submitted to Dutch Parliament that seeks to cancel the existing requirement of having to notify the debtors in the event of assignment of receivables under Dutch law. The explanatory memorandum to the proposal states as the principal reason for the proposed cancellation, the unforeseen development since the introduction of the requirement in 1992 of financial products that involve a transfer of a portfolio of receivables, in bulk and at the same time, as is the case in a securitization. In addition, the proposal intends to bring Dutch law in line with similar legislation in countries such as the UK, Belgium, France and Germany.

The Companies (Amendment) Bill 2003 introduced in the Parliament on May 7 2003, seeks to ensure better corporate governance practices and promote investor protection. The Bill restricts subsidiaries from becoming a holding company of another company. It makes identification of promoters mandatory to prevent occurrence of vanishing companies, thereby making it easier to trace assets. It raises the minimum subscription of application amount of shares from 5% to 25%. If the minimum subscription is not reached, the amount must be refunded within eight days of closing with interest at bank rate. The Bill bans auditors from simultaneously providing other services such as actuarial services, accounting/book-keeping and internal audit services. It adds grounds for the disqualification of auditors found to be linked to a client's financial interest.

Since the enactment of The Provisional Regulations on Foreign-Funded Mergers and Acquisitions of Onshore Enterprises on April 12 2003, the restrictions on foreign investors who wish to acquire a company or the assets of a company that is wholly-owned by the People's Republic of China (PRC) have been relaxed.

The Finnish Parliament in February 2003 approved a new Act on Statutory Limitations (ASL). The aim of the ASL is to harmonize the several different periods of limitation in the current Finnish legislation. But the ASL will be a general act (lex generalis) and as such will be superseded by any special act (lex specialis) containing special limitation periods. The ASL is expected to become effective during the first part of 2004.

Merger activity in Austria is booming as global companies search for bargain assets in central Europe. Michael Evans reports

Germany's banks are reluctant to lend, so its companies are suffering. Securitization should be the answer for both. But proposed reforms will do little for corporates. Michael Evans reports on how banks are happy, but borrowers less so

The Investment Services Directive (ISD), now the subject of high level debate by politicians in Brussels, will shape the structure of Europe's capital markets for years to come. But bankers say plans to force brokers to quote prices openly to the market could lead them to take their business outside the EU in search of more bank-friendly share trading regimes abroad. IFLR brought together a group of London-based regulators, lawyers and industry representatives to discuss the issues

Securitization specialists have warned bankers and lawyers not to ignore the profound impact that the new Basel Accord will have on the structured finance industry.

The structure of the funding package for Pusan New Port has set a benchmark for Korean infrastructure projects. It is the first time both foreign banks and a foreign sponsor have been involved in a financing in Korea, and the first time that lenders have taken on the construction and market risk of a project. By Simon Black and Geoff O'Dea of Allen & Overy, and Ick-Ryol Huh and Seong Soo Kim of Kim & Chang

The opening of China's securities markets to foreign brokers may only force domestic companies to improve corporate governance if restrictions on investors are also relaxed. Andrew Crooke reports