Search results for

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.

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

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 EU Insurance Winding-Up Directive has recently been implemented by Irish legislation (SI No 168 of 2003). This legislation applies to reorganization measures adopted or winding up proceedings commenced on or after April 29 2003 and, subject to certain exemptions, requires EU member states to recognize reorganizations and winding-up proceedings of insurers authorized in other EU member states even where such proceedings are dealt with differently by domestic law.

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 January 1 2002, the purchaser of at least 30% of the stated capital of a listed German stock corporation has been obliged to submit an offer to the remaining shareholders to acquire their shares. Since January 1 2002, if a purchaser owns at least 95% of the stated capital, the German Stock Corporation Act offers the possibility of squeezing out the minority shareholders by way of a resolution of the general meeting on payment of an adequate cash compensation.

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.

Securities regulation in Hong Kong is failing to meet the needs of international business. If it doesn’t change soon, investors may look to Singapore instead. By Andrew Crooke

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