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Rafael Maradei of Barbosa, Müssnich & Aragão Advogados, São Paulo, reviews the Brazilian government’s new attempt to reform clearing and settlement systems

The EU Committee of Wise Men chaired by Alexandre Lamfalussy has issued its final report on the regulation of European securities markets.

Gilles Thieffry of Andersen Legal, London, looks at the controversial Lamfalussy Report and argues that more needs to be done to promote a pan-European securities regulator if the authorities are to keep up with market realities

Despite heavy criticism from various commercial associations, the Swiss government intends to go ahead with a revision of the Act on Cartels of October 6 1995. As the Swiss Federal Council declared on April 4 2001, the government is determined to win parliamentary support at least for the core issue of the revision, which involves the tightening of sanctions.

The Finnish Financial Supervision (FFS), the authority supervising the Finnish securities market, issued on March 29 2001 an official statement regarding the offering of financial services over information networks. The use of the internet and other network systems as a means of offering financial services has grown rapidly in the recent years. The purpose of the statement is both to promote the generally accepted banking and marketing principles and to improve the safety of using financial network services.

The Resolution of the Governor of the Bank of Italy dated November 28 2000 has introduced new provisions on the drafting of the fund rules of common investment funds, established in Italy pursuant to the European Communities Regulation 1989 (undertakings for collective investment in transferable securities – so-called harmonized funds).

Pursuant to the Royal Decree of December 5 2000, the Belgian Law on Commercial Practices and the Protection of Consumers (LCP) of July 14 1991 became, as from May 1 2001, applicable to almost all financial instruments and securities. The general purpose of the Royal Decree was:

Before the enactment of Azerbaijan's new Civil Code, the paper-based Azerbaijani payment system was a major contributing factor to the slowness and complexity of inter-bank transfers. Since the establishment of a commercial banking system in the country, the demand for electronic banking services has grown constantly. This demand was first recognized in law when Azerbaijan's new Civil Code was adopted, which authorized electronic banking and electronic signatures for the first time. That initial legislative step has set the stage for electronic banking that had previously been limited to the introduction of automated teller machines. Fortunately, the National Bank of Azerbaijan (the NBA) has used this new legislative basis to bring innovative technologies to Azerbaijan's banking sector.

On March 8 2001, the Bank of Thailand, by virtue of section 9 bis of the Commercial Banking Act BE 2505 (1962), issued Letter No Tor Por Tor Sor Nor Sor (11) Wor 514/2544 on Permission for Commercial Banks to Undertake Escrow Accounts Business. This permits a commercial bank to render escrow account services to clients who have entered into either a buy and sell agreement, or sale agreement of various properties with the seller; the commercial bank will allow the withdrawal of money from the said account only if the purchaser and seller have fulfilled the terms and conditions as set out in the escrow account agreement.

From 1994, the year in which cellular phone concessions were awarded, the number of users of this type of service increased from 69,795 to 1,921,065 in 1999, which means an increase of 87.2% per annum on the number of subscribed users. This figures vastly exceeds the initial projections of all involved, both companies and the government (initial calculations were of around 250,000 subscribed users in the first five years). As a result of this situation, and in order to increase the competition within the Colombian wireless telecommunications market, on February 2 2000, the Colombian Congress enacted Law 555, which sets forth the general framework for the provision of Personal Communication Services (PCS) in Colombia.