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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.

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.

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

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.

The European Securitisation Forum has added its voice to those questioning proposed changes to international accounting standards. Rob Mannix reports

The US Securities and Exchange Commission has admitted that tough deadlines for implementing Sarbanes-Oxley mean the regulator has little time to consider exemptions for foreign issuers.

October 2002 marked the first anniversary of the proclamation of Canada's Financial Consumer Agency of Canada Act. The Act makes fundamental changes in the areas of financial institution ownership, investment, operations, corporate governance, consumer protection, and foreign bank branch regulation, thereby potentially having significant influence on the business decisions of Canada's financial institutions. New ownership regimes mean banks and insurance companies are now categorized according to size based on shareholder equity. New rules permit expanded interests to be held in Canadian financial institutions. In addition, regulated, non-operating bank and insurance holding companies may be established.

Regulators in South Korea have introduced rules intended to swell the flow of corporate information to shareholders. Yet the new regime could have precisely the opposite effect, say Woong-Soon Song and Sang Man Kim

Amendments to the Hungarian Labour Code, effective from September 1 2002, appear to favour employees' interests over those of employers.