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Sidley Austin Brown & Wood and Allen & Overy have acted on a groundbreaking mortgage securitization for HBOS, which uses a master trust structure that is likely to generate repeat business for both law firms. The £3.5 billion ($5.3 billion) deal – Europe's largest mortgage securitization – is not the first to use a master trust structure to sell a UK deal into the US, but it is the first by HBOS and the choice of legal advisers sets a template for future deals.

After initially buying 9.9% of Storebrand last year to block a rival bid, Den Norske Bank (DnB) has now agreed a full merger with the company, which values the Norwegian insurer at about $1.8 billion. In spring 2001, DnB took advantage of Norway's controversial laws on the ownership of financial institutions to block a takeover bid for Storebrand by Sampo of Finland. DnB used Norway's Financial Institutions Act, which states that no party can hold more than 10% of a Norwegian financial institution unless it bids for more than 90%, to force Sampo to drop its approach.

Norton Rose has advised Deutsche Bank for the third time in recent months on structuring a securitization deal from Portugal – this time helping develop the country's mortgage market. Banco Nacional de Crédito Imobiliário (BNC) has become the second originator of a residential mortgage-backed securities transaction in Portugal, proving that the Magellan securitization for Banco Comercial Portugues in December was not just a one-off.

"Fortis and JPMorgan have jointly developed a new equity-linked bond structure that enabled the Dutch issuer to raise €1.25 billion of tax deductible finance without immediate earnings-per-share dilution."

Freehills has ended its alliance in Singapore with Alban Tay Mahtani & de Silva. The two firms entered into a formal law alliance in September 2000, but had been closely affiliated for two years before that. Freehills said in a statement: "The two firms have benefited from the opportunity and the relationship, but agree the formal alliance is not necessary for each to pursue its goals." The termination of the alliance does not mean an end to the relationship between the firms, says a lawyer at Alban Tay. "We are still working with Freehills," he said.

Shareholders' rights and investor protection will face more scrutiny in Hong Kong following moves to give more power and status to a group representing investor interests. The Securities and Futures Commission has formalized its Shareholders Group as a statutory standing committee, giving it more say when advising the watchdog on policymaking and matters of concern relating to public and minority shareholders in listed companies.

The Central Bank of Colombia has replaced the previous External Regulatory Circulars (DCIN-36 of July 19 2001, DCIN-05 of January 10 2002, and DCIN-10 of February 15 2002) with a new External Regulatory Circular: DCIN-23 of May 9 2002. This will come into force on June 4 2002. The principal changes introduced by the new Circular are the following:

"Ignoring the problems for the sake of the sacred principles of property and contract is a disappointing example of tunnel vision."

The EU is preparing to radically overhaul disclosure rules for publicly-traded companies, making them responsible for disclosing information to the markets more often and more comprehensively than ever before. The European Commission is behind the proposals, announcing plans to introduce disclosure requirements that become increasingly stringent depending on the size of a business.

Brazil has introduced guidelines allowing domestic banks and financial companies to access the market for credit derivatives. Walter Douglas Stuber and Adriana Gödel Stuber of Amaro, Stuber e Advogados, São Paulo, explain