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To lose one managing partner may be regarded as a misfortune. But Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer's loss of two might seem to some like carelessness. To others, with a more sensible frame of mind, it may appear as a coincidence. In response to media reports in the UK Freshfields is keen to dismiss talk of a management shake-up within its Asian network after the announcement that the managing partners of two of its biggest offices will soon be stepping down. Charles Stevens, the present managing partner of the Tokyo office, plans to retire in the autumn after five years with Freshfields and, in a separate move, Roger Dyer will be replaced in Singapore by David Simpson.

Derivatives specialists have been trying hard to defend their business in the wake of the collapse of Enron. At its annual general meeting the International Swaps and Derivatives Association (ISDA) went as far as issuing a detailed rebuttal of claims that the market needs tighter regulation. "The market in the end exercised the ultimate sanction over [Enron]" its release asserts. But, try as they might, derivatives specialists cannot shake off all of the blame for the scandal. Now lawyers, too, have begun to suggest the markets may not be whiter than white. Though Enron's chief crime was to lie about how much it was really making, the company's collapse hides a quirk of the derivatives market that could bring down another organization if it goes unnoticed.

Finance lawyers are calling on the European Commission to drop proposals for a new takeover directive, which they say could damage Europe's capital markets. In an article in this month's IFLR, the chairman of the company law committee of the City of London Law Society, James Palmer, calls on The High Level Group of Company Law Experts which is making the recommendations in a report to the commission, to think again.

The UK treasury has stated that proposals to change rules that allow investors to defer tax payments on hedge funds earnings are at a very early stage after criticism of a recent consultation paper. The report on offshore funds states that British residents should pay tax on overseas investments as they would with UK-based investments. The report goes on to suggest that investors should pay tax on an annual basis rather than when they close out their position.

A recent ruling clarified the extent to which selling shareholders are liable under US securities law. By Christian Droop and Sarah Casey Otte of Milbank, Tweed, Hadley & McCloy LLP

With a firm commitment to renovation, Vietnam is set to strengthen its banking industry. Tony Foster, of Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer, Hanoi, explains the latest changes

Germany's latest financial reforms will affect everything from listing shares to trading derivatives to storing information about bank customers. Gabriele Apfelbacher of Cleary, Gottlieb, Steen & Hamilton summarizes the most important changes

French regulators aim to increase the liability of banks in tender offers. But new rules leave questions unanswered. By Eric Cafritz and Omer Tene of Fried Frank Harris Shriver & Jacobson

Significant legislation in Mexico sets out to protect the process of competition, through the prevention and elimination of monopolies and monopolistic practices and any other restraints of trade. It is applicable to all economic participants involved in the Mexican economy and commercial banks, financial institutions and foreign corporations should be aware that some commercial practices, formerly tolerated in Mexico, might now be illegal under these rules and regulations. The legislation was first enacted on December 24 1992 in the form of the Mexican Antitrust Act (Ley Federal de Competencia Económica, the MAA). Additional procedural regulations were published on March 1998, with the enactment of the Regulations to the Mexican Antitrust Act (Reglamento de la Ley de Competencia Económica, the RMAA).

Jennifer Marshall of Allen & Overy explains what Europe's new rules mean for companies and investors