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The Mexican Financial System By Antonio Franck and José Visoso of Franck, Galicia y Robles SC, Mexico City

The House of Representatives has approved legislation that will save investors and companies nearly $8 billion in fees over the next five years. The bill, which was passed overwhelmingly last month, reduces the rates that the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) charges on equity transactions, securities registrations, public offerings and mergers and acquisitions (M&A) deals. The cut follows pressure from industry trade groups, including the Security Traders Association, which said the SEC was collecting much more than it needed to cover its activities.

To prevent interference in the capital markets by US lawmakers, a Wall Street trade body has proposed new voluntary codes to govern the activities of financial analysts. The Securities Industry Association (SIA) released the guidelines in June. The move is being seen as an effort to pre-empt the outcome of an investigation by the House Financial Services subcommittee into analysts' work.

The Securities and Futures Bill, gazetted in November 2000, seeks to consolidate and reform 10 ordinances now regulating the Hong Kong securities and futures market. The proposed legislation seeks to increase the transparency of securities dealings, tighten restrictions against market manipulation, and improve the operations of market participants, therefore bringing Hong Kong securities legislation in line with those of key international financial centres. Not surprisingly, disclosure of interests in shares of Hong Kong listed companies is one main area of change. Major amendments proposed include the following:

White & Case and Latham & Watkins have advised on the $2.2 billion financing of the two largest independent power projects in the US. Arthur Scavone, co-head of White & Case's worldwide energy, infrastructure and project finance practice, closed the $2.2 billion Teco/Panda power deal in June, following the firm's work for the joint venture of Panda Energy International and Teco Energy.

Annelies van der Pauw Davis, Polk & Wardwell and Allen & Overy have advised on an issue of ordinary shares for the Dutch insurer AEGON. The issue of shares by private placement to investors in The Netherlands and offering to institutional investors outside of the country, was made to finance the acquisition of the direct marketing services of US retail chain JC Penney Company. Allen & Overy partners Annelies van der Pauw and Thomas Werlen advised AEGON on the $1.5 billion while Davis, Polk & Wardwell partner Jeffrey Oakes advised joint book runners and lead managers Credit Suisse First Boston and Morgan Stanley Dean Witter.

The Australian attorney general is on a mission to force greater liberalization of Singapore's legal market. Singapore's reform efforts so far, says Daryl Williams, have favoured the UK and US firms far more than the Australians. In the context of a free trade deal between Australia and Singapore, this hardly seems fair. Williams took his case to the Singaporeans at the beginning of June with a legal services mission to the city state, comprising representatives of the International Legal Services Advisory Council, the Law Council of Australia, law firms, law schools and arbitration and mediation specialists.

"It's one thing to put a nice pretty code of standards together and put it on the shelf. I'm more interested in whether it's being applied in the market"

The Central Bank of Brazil established, in its Circular No. 3.039 of June 8 2001, the 2001 Census of Foreign Capital in Brazil. This was due to the increase of foreign capital which has been invested in the country over the last five years.

Some observers have claimed recently that the much-heralded boom in European commercial mortgage-backed securitization will come to nothing. However, as Liz Jones of Norton Rose, London, argues, large innovative deals such as May’s ProLogis and the enthusiasm of investors give grounds for optimism