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Entry to the WTO should give foreign banks access to the renminbi business they need if they are to be part of the expected boom in the country’s banking sector. But, as so often in China, things may not be so simple. Mitch Dudek and Kan Liang of Jones, Day, Reavis & Pogue’s Shanghai office explain

In the April 2001 issue of IFLR we reported that political agreement was reached by the EU's Council of Ministers to establish the European Company Statute and the related directive on worker participation in European companies. We can now report that, on October 8 2001, the EU Employment and Social Policy Council adopted the regulation establishing the European Company Statute and the accompanying directive. The directive and regulation will come into force on October 8 2004.

IRELAND, UK, BERMUDA: Euro 1 billion ($883 million) leveraged credit portfolio for Blue Chip Funding 2001-1 (January 2002) Dolem Securities McCann Fitzgerald

On January 1 2002 several amendments to the Securities Market Act (the SMA) and a number of related securities laws became effective. The amendments relate mainly to the definition of securities under Finnish law and introduce new provisions concerning other forms of public trading as well as alternative professional trading places to be established by authorized stock exchanges, investment firms and credit institutions. In addition, the amendments introduce provisions intended to increase the level of internal supervision conducted by market participants involved in the Finnish securities markets.

Consistent with its plan to mold the Japanese Commercial Code to the needs of business, the Japanese government recently announced amendments to the laws on stock rights. From April 1 2002 two types of stock rights – detachable stock warrants and stock options – will be replaced by a new type of stock right: shinkabu-yoyakuken (abbreviated to yoyakuken), meaning literally "the reserved right to new shares".

The Australian Prudential Regulation Authority recently issued a draft prudential standard for Authorized Deposit-taking Institutions (ADIs), together with a draft guidance note. These measures aim to ensure that ADI outsourcing arrangements are subject to appropriate due diligence and continuous monitoring.

On June 4 2001, Mexico enacted a new Investment Companies Law (Ley de sociedades de inversión, or ICL). Most of the provisions of the new ICL became effective on December 4 2001, and all remaining provisions became effective as of January 1 2002. The ICL is the most recent attempt by the Mexican regulatory authorities to improve and modernize the asset management industry. It provides for very important changes to the way the industry will be shaped in the future. Although the regulators are still analyzing the issuance of specific regulations, we hope that they will be finalized and issued no later than the second half of 2002. The intent is to give a boost to the industry and to try to raise it to international standards. When compared to the macroeconomic size of asset management in other countries, we envision that the Mexican market has a potential growth rate of at least 30% per year over the next 10 years. In fact, the average growth rate of the industry during 2001 was approximately 67%, during the last three years it averaged 40% growth per year.

It has taken more than 30 years, but the EU has at last agreed on a legal format for the European Company, a vehicle it hopes will support the EU project by freeing corporates from national differences in legislation and boosting European economic activity. Jean-Louis Joris of Cleary, Gottlieb, Steen & Hamilton in Brussels explains what the European Company really is, how to set one up and asks whether, ultimately, it will be a success

The political and economic turmoil in Argentina has temporarily derailed one of last year's biggest energy deals in the country.

Enron headquarters,