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National governments have long held special rights allowing them to block takeovers of state-favoured companies. But new rulings from the European Court of Justice could make such holdings illegal. By Vincent Brophy of Linklaters

A direct link (e-link) between the central securities depositories of Finland and Sweden was opened on June 3 2002. The Finnish Central Securities Depository has similar links with Germany, France and the Netherlands and a link to Switzerland through Germany.

This year, many significant amendments have been made to the Commercial Code. The latest amendments were promulgated on May 29 2002 and will take effect sometime within a year after this date. One of the amendments will allow class voting for the election of directors.

Intellectual property in literary, dramatic or musical works in India is protected under the Copyright Act, 1957. With the development of the entertainment industry and competition between entertainment channels for a larger share of the Indian market, copyright issues have assumed greater significance in the entertainment industry. Although, no copyright exists for ideas, concepts or themes that are sufficiently developed so they could be realized as a television programme, are capable of being the subject of confidential information. Protection available to such ideas or concepts under the Copyright Act may vary depending on whether or not the concept as developed and evolved is the result of the work done by the person who conceived the original idea by applying some novel thoughts which distinguishes it from simple ideas.

David Becker, the general counsel of the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) until May 7, is to join Cleary Gottlieb Steen & Hamilton. Becker will join the firm's securities transaction and enforcement practice as a partner in Washington DC, where he will advise clients on capital markets activities, representing clients in SEC and other investigations, on corporate governance issues and in other SEC regulatory matters.

The CMS alliance is expanding its presence in China after relocating UK, French and German lawyers to the new Shanghai office of Bureau Francis Lefebvre. CMS's French member opened its first Chinese operation this month to focus on corporate and commercial work, insurance and construction, after being awarded a licence by the Chinese Ministry of Justice at the end of 2001.

Lori Richards, director of the Securities and Exchange Commission's Compliance Inspections and Examinations Office, has called for brokers to cooperate more closely to combat money-laundering. Richards said the SEC "found the need for great improvement" when examining the types of reports that clearing brokers provide to introducing brokers, and whether they could be used to detect money-laundering activity.

The US government has called on Japan to overhaul its rules on cross-border share swaps in mergers and acquisitions. Foreign businesses operating in Japan have long called on the Japanese government to liberalize the range of options open to them to finance deals. Japanese law does not allow cross-border exchange of shares if the deal involves Japanese and foreign companies, although domestic companies can exchange shares between themselves.

The collapse of Enron in the US has led some Asian leaders to question the rationale for deregulating their own energy industries. Peter Roberts, of Jones Day’s Hong Kong office, says delays could be costly

Recent action by New York's attorney general against Merrill Lynch has cast doubt over the regulation of analysts everywhere. Wall Street firms have scrambled to announce new initiatives to guarantee the objectivity of their stock-dealing advice. The SEC has issued tougher rules to govern research, and regulators in Europe have said they will consider the issue, too. IFLR invited seven leading figures from the London markets to discuss the problem