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Sullivan & Cromwell has moved one of its senior partners to Frankfurt in a bid to strengthen its financial institutions practice in Europe and expand its local team.

French lawyers have given a mixed response to radical plans to change the procedure for listing companies in Paris. The French stock market regulator, the Commission des Opérations de Bourse (COB) launched a consultative document at the end of July proposing rules that overhaul listing procedures and which some local lawyers argue will change the legal position of banks underwriting new offerings on the Paris market.

O'Melveny & Myers is recruiting three lawyers to bolster the US firm's presence in Hong Kong this autumn.

Milbank, Tweed, Hadley & McCloy has structured Latin America's largest telecoms financing so far this year, using templates of documents drafted by the firm for the financing for Brazil's BCP last year.

The classification of debt and equity for taxation purposes in Australia is about to undergo significant change if the provisions of the New Business Tax System (Debt & Equity) Bill 2001 are enacted.

Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer and Allen & Overy last month secured the services of a combined six new partners from US competitors. The new arrivals will boost the UK firms' New York offices and are another warning to US firms that the magic circle mean business. Allen & Overy has launched a mergers and acquisitions (M&A) practice in New York after raiding US rivals to hire four partners and a senior associate.

On May 21 2001 the Indian government revised existing sectoral guidelines and equity caps on foreign direct investment (FDI) including investment by non-resident Indians (NRIs) and overseas corporate bodies (OCBs). FDI of up to 26% of a company's share capital is permissible, subject to licensing in the defence industry where foreign investment was previously not permitted. Similarly, in banking, FDI of up to 49% of a company's share capital from all sources, including investments by NRIs and OCBs, is permitted under the automatic route without requiring prior approval of the Foreign Investment Promotion Board (FIPB) subject to conforming with guidelines issued by the Reserve Bank of India from time to time.

The Federal Act on Investment Funds (IFA) is to be revised in view of certain changes to pertinent EU directives. At present, the investment companies quoted on the Swiss stock exchange and incorporated as joint stock companies (Aktiengesellschaften) pursuant to Article 620 et seq Swiss Code of Obligations do not fall under the scope of the IFA. The Federal Banking Commission (FBC) intends that this revision should be taken as an opportunity to enlarge the scope of the IFA. The IFA governs assets which are managed under a collective investment contract and excludes assets that are managed in a different form, particular in corporate form (Article 3 para 1 and 2, IFA). The FBC takes the position that this provision contradicts the principle of "same business, same rules". Furthermore, the existing legislation contains an unequal treatment of Swiss closed-end investment funds on the one hand and foreign funds on the other hand. Pursuant to Article 3 para 3, foreign investment funds whose units are distributed in Switzerland are governed by the IFA regardless of their legal structure.

The offering of stock options by foreign companies to their employees in Portugal has raised a series of questions under the new Portuguese Securities Market Code. The main question is whether the stock options are negotiable securities. If they are, they must be qualified either as a public or a private offer of securities and will have to comply with the public or private offering rules, which involve different procedures and requirements in Portugal.

The post-handover rollercoaster ride for Hong Kong looks like it is heading for another dip as economic growth stalls. Nick Ferguson reports on the divergent strategies taken by law firms in the territory and assesses their likely success in cushioning the landing and preparing firms for when the ride takes off again