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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.

Money from the EU to improve central Europe's broken-down infrastructure will make less difference than lawyers might hope. Tom Williams reports

Japanese banks are preparing to use synthetic collateralized loan obligations to obtain capital relief after the largest reported deal of this type won regulatory approval and closed at the end of September.

Canada's largest law firm has acted for the banks in the biggest syndicated financing in eastern Europe.

Davis Polk advises on $180 million secondary offering

Twenty-four of the most prominent law firms in the US have united to issue a consensus view on the proper application of Section 402 of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act, which bans companies from giving directors and executive officers personal loans.

Regulators from around the US are queuing up to condemn investment banks for their use of analysts and allocation of shares in lucrative offerings. Ben Maiden reports from New York on the battle over Wall Street

The Colombian Supreme Court of Justice (Corte Suprema de Justicia) has carried out an analysis of the legal nature and characteristics of performance bonds between private parties (by means of Decision No 6785 of May 2 2002). In the Decision, the court established that the bonds were initially regulated by Law 225 of 1938 which set out the legal regime for management and performance bonds with the purpose of assuring compliance with obligations derived from laws or contracts. Law 225, in the opinion of the court, is still in force. The bonds are generally conceived as an insurance by which a creditor is covered against any economic loss that may derive from the eventual breach of their debtor's obligations, transferring such risk to a third party (an insurance company) which assumes it as its own obligation in exchange for the payment of a premium.

When Merrill Lynch fell foul of US securities laws during China Telecom's initial public offering, the bank's actions highlighted industry-wide cracks in internal compliance. By Andrew Crooke

Clients of Czech banks and other financial institutions in the Czech Republic will soon have a new forum for dispute resolution. After January 1 2003, disputes related to payments of up to €50,000 ($48,800) or electronic payment instruments will be decided by a new institution referred to as the Financial Arbitrator. The Arbitrator will be appointed by the lower house of the parliament for a fixed term of five years. The costs associated with the administration of the Arbitrator's office will be paid by the Czech National Bank.