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Following a recent ruling by the European Court of Justice, the German Finance Ministry is looking again at aspects of the country’s Corporation Taxes Act governing thin capitalization. But lending banks may be disappointed by the review say Martin Krause and Karin Hauenschild of Linklaters Oppenhoff & Rädler

The much awaited Land Transport Management Bill was introduced to the New Zealand parliament on December32002. It reflects the government's new strategy for transport infrastructure development in New Zealand which was released officially on the same day. The Bill provides for private sector involvement in road schemes and for public-private partnerships (PPPs) in land transport infrastructure, which has historically been funded principally by the government. It is intended to provide flexibility and coordination so that a wider range of land transport solutions can be achieved than has been possible until now.

India is proposing to introduce value-added tax (VAT) in the Union Budget for 2003-2004 (dated February 28 2003). This is a significant reform in the country's tax regime.

In the Budget Speech 2003, Hong Kong's financial secretary stressed the importance of attracting more financial product issuers. To further these initiatives and to foster the development of retail bonds, the SFC and the Financial Services and Treasury Bureau jointly published a consultation paper on March 10 2003, suggesting amendments to the Companies Ordinance.

In February 2003, a panel of experts was informed about various recommendations to improve Swiss financial market supervision. As an initial measure, the panel has recommended appointing the Swiss Federal Banking Commission and the Federal Office of Private Insurance as the new financial market supervisory authority. For this purpose the two federal bodies should be merged organizationally within this new authority. By summer 2003, the panel plans to submit a draft of a federal law on financial market supervision which will come into force by the end of 2003 at the earliest.

The potential bankruptcy of a Russian company has long troubled those investing in the country, as loopholes in the previous bankruptcy laws have led to the use of bankruptcy as a takeover device and other abuses. On December 3 2002, a new Law On Bankruptcy (Insolvency) took effect. In general, the new law is debtor-friendly and was drafted to stop abuses. However, it does not address all the existing problems and its effectiveness remains untested. Some of the noteworthy provisions of the new law are outlined below.

Pursuant to the Competition Act, one or more undertakings acquiring direct or indirect control over another undertaking or other undertakings qualifies as a concentration and, if certain thresholds are met, is subject to the Competition Office's approval. However, the acquisition of temporary control does not qualify as a concentration and, thus, the Competition Office's approval is not required. This special rule was applied and further interpreted in a recent decision when FOTEX, a holding company acquired interest in FTC, a Hungarian football club.

Certain amendments to Finland's Act on Credit Institutions (the ACI) and the Act on Investment Firms (the AIF) became effective on February 15 2003. The amendments mainly relate to improving banking and payment services as well as their availability. Although most amendments are mainly structural, they also include regulation on for example the use of agents in providing banking services, the right to receive repayable funds from customers and the right to basic banking services.

The launch of a collateralized loan obligation (CLO) that was 12 months in the making has created a template for asset-backed deals from Taiwan.

The Bank of Italy has made clear to the market its views on the treatment of repayment clauses in securitization transactions.