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Practitioners have broadly welcomed the EU's new bankruptcy regime. But one year after inception it is becoming clear that the law reaches beyond its intended borders. Thomas Williams reports

UK firm Lovells and Italian firm Carnelutti are advising on SAB Miller's €563 million ($638 million) unconditional offer for Italy's second largest brewer Birra Peroni.

The Japanese government promulgated laws on April 9 2003 to facilitate industrial revitalization. The laws temporarily introduce and extend a number of special measures for certain types of revitalization plans and introduce a special corporation to assist certain revitalizing companies. There are companies in Japan that have accumulated large debts and retained excess productive capacities. As a result, they have been facing economic difficulties. The new measures are expected to help these companies.

US senators query Wall Street research settlement

Sir:

Investors gave Uruguay a firm vote of support for its planned debt restructuring last month when 90% of creditors signed up for its groundbreaking bond swap.

The Ontario Securities Commission recently issued proposals to amend Rule 61-501, which governs insider bids, issuer bids, going private transactions and related party transactions. The Rule protects security holders by providing greater disclosure regarding, independent valuation of, and effective veto over, certain transactions with perceived inherent conflicts of interest. The amendments seek to clarify confusing provisions and eliminate regulatory burden where compliance costs may outweigh the benefits.

The Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) comprised of Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates announced the creation of the GCC Customs Union at the conclusion of the 23rd Annual Summit held in Doha in late December 2002. The Customs Union commenced on January 1 2003.

Although global insurance firms are pushing into the Korean market - the world's seventh largest in terms of insurance premiums - the threat posed by foreign rivals is a minor issue next to the challenges created by the proposed Insurance Business Law (IBL). The Bill focuses on overhauling the existing regulations in the insurance sector to meet global standards in terms of asset management, market competition, supervisory systems and consumer protection.

As part of the Japanese government's securities market reform, amendments to the Cabinet Order and the Cabinet Office Ordinances relating to the Securities and Exchange Law took effect on April 1 2003. There are two key points to the amendments. First, the amendments require disclosures to the Japanese public securities market to be more informative and credible. Secondly, the amendments modify the requirements for private placements in order to encourage the development of Japanese private securities markets.