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The recent admission of accounting irregularities at Ahold shows Sarbanes-Oxley is having a positive effect on audit and corporate governance standards.

Recent rule-making by US regulators is placing tougher reporting restrictions on non-US issuers with shares traded in the US. Douglas Tanner of Milbank Tweed Hadley & McCloy explains what corporates should know about these requirements and how to avoid unnecessary burdens

Frederick Feldkamp of Foley & Lardner says new accounting rules on the consolidation of variable interest entities show the US has learned from the Enron disaster. These rules could even enhance the prospects of the US securitization market

Portugal will soon have a legal diploma foreseeing and regulating undertakings for collective investments in transferable securities (Ucits) under statute through the form of securities investment companies with variable capital (SICAV) and securities investment companies with fixed capital (SICAF).

In a strongly worded January 2003 report, the US Senate Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations stated that, by the end of this year, the SEC and US bank regulators should take action to preclude abusive structured finance transactions. The report applauds the use of structured finance to lower funding costs and diversify risk (true asset securitizations) but virtually demands the termination of false liability securitizations. False securitizations attenuate risk and hide assets and liabilities from investor and regulatory scrutiny.

The Cayman Islands has always been responsive to the needs of the international financial community in introducing expedient legislation. Last year saw the creation of the segregated portfolio company (SPC) by way of amendment to the Companies Law of the Cayman Islands, and now revisions in 2003 will make it a more attractive corporate vehicle for mutual funds and multi-issuer structured finance vehicles. Provisions that have caused difficulties in obtaining a rating for structured finance deals will be removed and a mechanism introduced to enable any existing Cayman Islands company to convert into an SPC. The key points are described below.

As part of the reforms of the securities settlement system, a securities clearing institution (Shoken Torihiki Seisan Kikan) has been created under an amendment to the Securities and Exchange Law, which took effect on January 6 2003. A securities clearing institution means a central counterparty with respect to securities transactions, which enables securities transactions between the buyer(s) and seller(s) to be cleared in one block. A primary purpose of the securities clearing institution is to lessen the settlement risk with respect to securities transactions.

Two main principles were set out by the legislator at the time of the recent enactment of Law 130/1999 on securitization: the exclusive object of a securitization vehicle must be to enter into securitization transactions; and the receivables of each transaction must represent assets segregated from the vehicle's own assets and from those of other securitizations which may be entered into by the same vehicle.

To cope with commercial crimes in Hong Kong, the Securities and Futures Commission (SFC) recently published proposed revisions to the existing Guidance Note on Money Laundering for public consultation.

The State Development Commission (SDC) and the Ministry of Finance and State Administration of Foreign Exchange (SAFE) have jointly promulgated Interim Measures on the Administration of Foreign Debts. The new Measures, which were enacted on January 8 will be effective from March 1 2003.