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Allen & Overy's Simon Gleeson rebuffs accusations that lawyers have been spreading unnecessary panic among clients following the introduction of new UK market abuse rules

The Mexican Securities Law (Ley del Mercado de Valores) allows government entities to issue debt-denominated securities known as Certificados Bursátiles. Although the Mexican federal government has in the past issued debt securities, this mechanism has certainly not been a financing option for state governments or for municipalities. So far there has only been two issuances of Certificados Bursátiles of this kind registered with the Mexican Stock Exchange. One was made by the state government of Morelos for about $21 million, and the second by the city of Aguascalientes for about $9 million. Recently, Fitch Ratings has given the city of San Pedro Garza García an AAA rating for the issuance of Certificados Bursátiles up to $20 million. It is expected that these securities will be priced and placed this summer and, if successful, will become the third issuance of these kind of debt instruments in the Mexican securities market.

The Reserve Bank of New Zealand Bill, a new Bill aimed at strengthening the Reserve Bank of New Zealand's (New Zealand's Central Bank) powers of supervision and regulation of registered banks to bring them into line with international best practice was introduced on April 23 2002. The Reserve Bank first indicated that it was going to propose significant changes to its governing legislation in October 2000. This governing legislation is the Reserve Bank of New Zealand Act 1989, which sets out the functions and powers of the Reserve Bank and provides for a system of regulation and supervision of banks. The new Bill was introduced following consultation on the proposed amendments with interested parties and will have significant implications for both domestic and foreign-owned banks that do business in New Zealand.

With a view to bringing the regulatory regime of Hong Kong, which is fundamentally disclosure-based, more in line with its international counterparts and to assure the furtherance of investors' protection, the Securities and Futures Commission of Hong Kong (SFC) unveiled the Consultation Paper on the Securities and Futures (Stock Market) Rules in May 2002.

Stricter rules on insider dealing in Italy have been introduced as part of significant amendments to the Regulation of the markets organized and managed by Borsa Italiana SpA, the Italian Stock Exchange. The amendments to the Regulation came into force on July 15 2002.

Bank of China has completed one of the biggest and most complex deals in Hong Kong's history. The $2.47 billion offering will create the seventh-largest stock on the Hong Kong exchange by market capitalization. As one of Hong Kong's note-issuing banks Bank of China has a prominent name in the local market – a factor that certainly contributed to the deal's success. Cheating the odds, the offering priced at the top end of its range and was vastly over-subscribed. This, despite weak global demand for equities, depressed sentiment in Hong Kong and a bad loans problem that mirrors the problems within China's banking industry as a whole.

Allen & Overy has advised on the world's first global Islamic securities issue – the Federation of Malaysia's $600 million offering of trust certificates. The securities were issued in the form of trust certificates, governed by English law.

A Bill that introduces new standards for the corporate governance of companies with shares listed on the Athens Stock Exchange was recently approved by the Greek parliament and following Government Gazette registration the new law has now come into force (as law No 3016/2002). These new corporate governance rules are a follow-up to a Code of Conduct for listed companies issued by a decision of the Capital Market Commission in late 2000.

The regulations applicable to finance companies in the Netherlands have changed again as of July 1 2002. The existing exemption regulation is revoked with effect from that date. This exemption was itself recently amended and stated that Dutch finance companies could be exempt from being qualified as a credit institution (kredietinstelling) within the meaning of the Act on the Supervision of Credit Institutions 1992, as a consequence of which the finance company would not fall under the scope of this Act. In addition to the new regulation, a policy guideline of the Dutch Central Bank (DCB) in respect of the terms used in the regulation has become effective.

David Bernstein of Clifford Chance Rogers & Wells LLP, New York, argues for a return to old-style accounting. It may have been less accurate, but modern methods create confusion and hinder comparisons between one business and another, he says