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Shearman and Freshfields team up for $505 million private equity deal

A new law was introduced on June 21 2001 to regulate international arbitration proceedings in Turkey. The new International Arbitration Law No 4686 is a supplement to the existing domestic arbitration regulation, which is set out in the Code of Civil Procedure (CCP). The Arbitration Law was enacted in parallel with the general trend towards liberalization of international arbitration legislation globally.

In a recent decision, the Ontario Securities Commission(OSC) "killed the pill" put in place by coffee shop chain Second Cup to block the hostile takeover bid by Cara Operations.

Corporate governance has become a fashionable term in Switzerland in recent times. Nonetheless, there is no legal definition of the term under Swiss law. Corporate governance rules are increasingly found in various enactments, such as the Swiss Federal Code of Obligations (company law) or the Federal Law on Stock Exchanges and Securities Trading and the listing rules based thereon.

A provision of the Bank of Italy dated November 31 2002 has finally set out rules for authorization to trade in units of common investment funds not established pursuant to the relevant EU regulation (including Directive 85/611/EEC relating to undertakings for collective investment in transferable securities, the so-called UCITS Directive). These are referred to as non-harmonized funds.

Shares of companies listed on the Athens Stock Exchange are held with the Central Securities Depository (CSD) in book entry form. At the same time a direct registration system is in effect, according to which shares are recorded in the ultimate investor's name. No provisions or market practice exist to allow for omnibus accounts and settlement occurs at the final investor level. Transfers between investors are possible only through a market transaction, as off-exchange transfers are subject to various restrictions. This situation is creating problems with international broker-dealers effecting transactions on behalf of their clients, in the event of mistakes in the allocation of shares bought or other situations when a change is necessary in the way stock holdings have been recorded.

The trend to mould the Commercial Code of Japan to business needs continues. From April 1 2002, amendments to the Commercial Code will dramatically relax the restrictions on voting rights of shareholders of Japanese joint-stock companies (kabushiki kaisha).

"If you don't maximize due diligence regardless of what is going on in the market, you haven't been doing your job properly"

Financial institutions will soon have to adopt more transparent practices in the way they allocate shares to institutional and retail investors in primary offerings.

A revised Code of Banking Practice, applicable to relationships between individual customers and authorized institutions under the Banking Ordinance (AIs), became effective as of December 1 2001. AIs generally have six months to comply with its terms.