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With many telecoms companies in trouble, much of the high-yield debt they favoured during the 1990s needs restructuring. By Mark Cannon of Latham & Watkins, London

With disclosure determining investor confidence, or the lack of it, Canada has decided now is a good time to untangle its confusion of corporate governance rules. Tina Woodside and Kathleen Ritchie of Gowling Lafleur Henderson's Toronto office assess the proposals

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.

Recent amendments to the Audit Special Exceptions Law, a law relating to the Commercial Code, provide an alternative to Japan's existing corporate governance structure. The new governance structure, scheduled to take effect in April 2003, is not mandatory and only applies to companies categorized as "larger companies" which satisfy certain criteria.

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

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.

Saudi Arabia's Supreme Economic Council (SEC), chaired by Crown Prince Abdullah, recently approved a privatization strategy outlining those sectors of the economy to be partially or wholly privatized. The targeted sectors include telecommunications, power generation, desalination, railways, hospitals, and the postal service.