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Frederic Rich of Sullivan & Cromwell in New York considers the key issues facing the project finance market over the coming years

By Clare Davidson, New York

The European Commission has agreed a formula on state aid for Landesbanks that should protect investors from a bank default. But the rules leave them at the mercy of guarantors. Robin Griffith and Michail Papadakis of Clifford Chance report

The European Regulation on Insolvency means proceedings commenced in one member state must now be recognized across the EU. Jennifer Marshall of Allen & Overy looks at some of the variables between the insolvency regimes in different countries

Following the enactment of the most recent Investment Companies Law (Ley de Sociedades de Inversión) last year, the National Securities Commission (Comisión Nacional de Valores) is now considering regulations that would allow authorized asset managers to:

Electronic money has entered Austrian law. The e-money Act regulating the issuance of e-money became effective as of April 2 2002. It is largely based on the EC Electronic Money Directive of September 2000.

Although mergers or changes of corporate form have been permitted under Swiss law in individual cases, there have been no provisions available governing such transactions in general. Because there is a clear need for businesses to change their corporate form, either as a consequence of the company's growth or to meet the requirements of the capital markets, Switzerland's Federal Council entrusted a group of experts in 1999 to draft a law on the matter, which will come into force soon.

Under the amended Commercial Code of Japan, which took effect on April 1 2002, the provisions relating to convertible bonds were replaced by rules relating to bonds with stock acquisition rights. The purpose of the amendment is to treat the option element of the convertible bond in a similar fashion to a bare stock acquisition right. The aim of the amendment was not to change the substance of the law on convertible bonds.

An innovative football securitization has set a precedent for future sports financings in the Italian market. Parma football club's €95 million ($88 million) securitization of sponsorship, licensing agreements and television rights is the first football securitization since the introduction of a new securitization law in 1999.

Samsung Capital has completed its third international asset-backed securitization deal. Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer, which has been involved on all the company's deals so far, advised Merrill Lynch, the arrangers. The deal was valued at $296 million and differed from the previous two in that it was placed in the US in reliance on Regulation S and Rule 144A. It was launched through the Cayman Islands-registered Samsung-Capital Auto 2002-1 special purpose vehicle and achieved a triple-A rating thanks to a monoline wrap provided by Financial Security Assurance (FSA).