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The Thai government has made substantial progress in its liberalization of the power sector, which 10 years ago was still a government monopoly. This process has been guided by Nepo (an independent agency), Egat (a state enterprise under the prime minister's office) and PTT (a state enterprise under the Ministry of Industry). International project financings have been a feature of various key steps in the process.

In one of the most dramatic policy decisions to come out of North Korea, the Pyongyang government announced in late September the adoption of legislation to create a 132-square mile special administrative zone (SAZ). The zone will be in the north-western city of Shinuiju, just across the Yalu River from the Chinese city of Dandong. For a 50-year term, the SAZ will operate its own legislative, judiciary and administrative functions and have its own legal and economic system, relatively free of central government interference, and even issue its own passports. However, the SAZ will not have defence or military and diplomatic functions. Some observers have remarked that the SAZ is modeled on the Shenzen and Suzhou developments in China, and may represent the adoption of an open-door policy in North Korea, signaling an irreversible change in the country.

The Securities and Exchange Law provides that continuing financial disclosure of companies to the investing public must be reported on a consolidated and non-consolidated basis. In contrast, the Commercial Code provides that financial disclosure to shareholders must be prepared on a non-consolidated basis and the Corporate Tax Law provides that corporate tax must be calculated on a non-consolidated basis.

China is continuing to work towards improving the business and financial health of the commercial banking sector by tightening internal controls. On September 18 the People's Bank of China (PBOC) issued its Guidelines for the Internal Control of Commercial Banks. The Guidelines declare the general goals and requirements of internal control systems and provide specific control functions in respect of credit business, treasury business, deposit and counter business, intermediary business, accounting and computer systems. In addition, the Guidelines impose personal liability for senior managers and internal audit committees and their members who fail in their duties to take measures to rectify breakdowns of internal controls.

Market manipulation, which involves deception and dishonesty, has long been regarded as a serious crime in Hong Kong. But despite a maximum penalty of two years' imprisonment, it appears there are no sentencing guidelines relating to it.

In September 2002 the government of India relaxed its guidelines for external commercial borrowings (ECBs) allowing companies to raise foreign loans on liberalized terms from any internationally-recognized source.

The Mexican Investment Corporations Law (Ley de Sociedades de Inversión) has created four different types of funds:

US efforts to shut down terrorist financing by forcing domestic banks to re-examine their dealings with foreign equivalents threw the industry into disarray last year. New finalized rules bring order to the confusion. Brian Volkman explains

The Prague stock exchange has been given a much-needed boost with the listing of Austria's oldest commercial and savings bank on the Czech market.

The novel structure of a joint venture between Lehman Brothers and Woori Finance Holdings, to buy up to $8.4 billion of non-performing loans (NPL) in Korea, has established a model for future distressed asset deals in Asia.