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Canadian firms may be coping well with in the present economic climate but many in the legal market are still struggling to decide on a strategy. Tom Nicholson reports

Lawyers at firms throughout Asia are advising on a 17,000km submarine cable that will connect bandwidth technology between China, Hong Kong, Japan, Korea, Singapore, Taiwan and the Philippines. On completion the cable will be able to carry 90 million voice conversations simultaneously.

The Commission des opération de bourse (COB) will soon complete its radical shake-up of securities regulation for the French markets. The reforms were inspired and influenced by the globalization of markets and increased volatility of share prices. The COB has to an extent been forced to follow both the markets and SEC’s lead. However, as Edward Kamman of Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom in Paris explains, the French reforms have much to teach other regulators in the fields of present disclosure and communications restrictions during offerings

Allen & Overy has advised J P Morgan Securities on a euro 300 million ($260 million) synthetic issue of collateralized debt obligations (CDOs) by Robeco CSO III.

Clifford Chance has advised on Hong Kong's biggest ever merger. The merger of Bank of China with 10 financial institutions in Hong Kong required legal advice in 45 jurisdictions around the world. Clifford Chance claims the deal is unprecedented, not just in Hong Kong, but worldwide.

Shearman & Sterling's Singapore association with Stamford is proving fruitful once again. The joint venture advised advised Goldman Sachs and Citicorp as joint global co-coordinators, and Salomon Smith Barney, on SingTels' successful $2.29 billion global bond issue. The deal is the largest straight corporate bond issue out of Asia. The bonds are denominated in US dollars and euros with maturities of 10 years and 30 years.

The Takeover Panel’s ruling on WPP/Tempus may have been the death blow for material adverse change clauses in the UK, but what of the US? Richard Trobman and Nick Cline of Latham & Watkins, London, ask if the US authorities would have come to the same conclusion if they had been presented with WPP

Thomas Williams talks to Axel Miller, general counsel of Dexia Group, about life after Clifford Chance

The corporatization and privatization of state enterprises has been an objective of Thai government policy makers for several years. In December 1999, the Capital of State Enterprise Act (also know as the Corporatization Act) was published, providing the regulatory framework for the conversion of state enterprises to private or public limited companies, to be initially 100%-owned by the Ministry of Finance.

On October 1 2001, the Australian parliament enacted in-substance rules for distinguishing between debt and equity instruments for tax purposes as well as a revised, wide sweeping thin capitalization regime. These measures represent key aspects of a broader, but still incomplete, business tax reform programme.