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The UK's Company Law Review Steering Group (the Steering Group) has set out its final proposals for making the law regarding corporate governance – the duties of directors and shareholders and the balance of power between them – more precise and easier to understand, and has suggested areas in which the current position could be improved. Its main conclusions and recommendations in this area are dealt with below.

Along with banking and securities trading, investment fund business is the core area of regulatory protection for investors in the Swiss financial markets. Investors in an investment fund as consumers of financial products have the right to demand a transparent structure of the fund, the use of readable and understandable prospectuses and adequate pricing of the fund manager's services. Moreover, the fund manager should always act in the interests of the investor and take the latter's capacity and willingness to take risks into proper consideration.

A number of urgent reforms to economic and financial legislation in France were adopted on December 11 2001, when the Loi Murcef (loi portant mesures urgentes de réformes à caractère économique et financier), was passed after having been the subject of a double petition before the Conseil Constitutionnel (Constitutional Council). This Act sets out a variety of changes and is divided into five parts. Part I sets out the modifications to be made to the rules governing procurement contracts; Part II relates to the relations between banks and their clients; Part III contains measures in relation to the introduction of the Euro; Part IV addresses the management of certain specific public companies and Part V contains a number of measures dealing with a broad range of other issues.

The Finnish Financial Supervision Authority (FSA) has issued five new guidelines, which concern offering of securities, tender offers and mandatory redemption, continuous duty of disclosure, flagging, and pro forma financial statements. Becoming effective on March 1 2002, the new guidelines replace the former guidelines on internet subscription location (K/30/2000/PMO), share subscriptions and sales via the internet in part (K/14/98/PMO) and the interpretation of disclosure provisions in the Securities Markets Act (K/23/99/PMO).

The question of whether a particular instrument should qualify as debt or capital under Belgian (tax) law is sometimes a heavily debated issue. Since the 1950s Belgian courts have rendered numerous decisions on the qualification of hybrid instruments as the Belgian tax administration disagreed on the legal qualification given to instruments by its issuers and investors. As a growing number of innovative financing instruments are continuously unleashed to the market, the debate on the debt or capital nature of hybrid instruments remains unsettled.

The Korean government has recently proposed an easing of the regulations governing foreign investment zones (FIZs) in an effort to encourage more multinational companies to establish regional headquarters in Korea.

A draft government bill for a new act on real estate investment funds (Immobilien-Investmentfondsgesetz) aims to establish a new type of investment fund in Austria, namely, the real estate investment fund.

The election of a new government could mean radical changes in the Portuguese financial markets. Some Lisbon lawyers think it may be too late. Thomas Williams reports

As Europe expands into the emerging markets of eastern Europe, Spanish lawyers are looking to Madrid's lawmakers for a more competitive environment. By Thomas Williams

Bart P M Joosen (partner) is admitted to the Amsterdam Bar and has previously worked with Tilburg University as assistant professor corporate law, Philips Electronics as in-house counsel corporate legal department and in the Banking & Securities Law Groups of Wouters Advocaten, an associated law firm of Arthur Andersen and of Coopers and Lybrand, Legal Services. Bart Joosen has specific experience and expertise in regulatory matters for participants in the financial industry, particularly banks and insurance companies with a focus on funding of financial industry institutions capital adequacy and solvency ratio and risk management issues from a legal perspective. Furthermore Bart Joosen has built up experience and expertise in structured finance, securitisation and securities law matters. Bart Joosen frequently publishes on matters of banking and securities law and on international insolvency law. He joined Steins Bisschop Meijburg Advocaten en Notarissen & Co in 1998.