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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.

A number of firms in the Asia-Pacific region were making important strategic appointments last month as lawyers seek to optimize their positioning to take advantage of the active capital markets in the region.

The Argentine government recently announced a $29.48 billion debt swap of short term bonds for securities with longer-term maturities, deferring debt service costs by approximately $17 billion through the end of 2005. The "mega" exchange reduces financial needs at a time when it is crucial to make room to restore growth and ease fears of a default. The transaction was approved by Decree No. 648 dated May 16 2001.

The Forum of European Securitization Commissions (FESCO) has called for common European standards for alternative trading systems (ATSs). At present alternative systems are treated as full exchanges in some member states but not in others, which can lead to an inadequate supply of information to investors, the regulators have said.

Restructurings that involve either Chinese assets or Chinese joint venture partners can pose real problems for foreign creditors. Raymond Lau, Joe Bannister and John Banks of Lovells, Hong Kong, examine the options available, together with the various cross-border issues that will arise when trying to recover assets from China

Ofta wants tighter control of telecoms M&A in Hong Kong. In June, the Hong Kong government closed the consultation period on proposals to tighten the regulatory regime for M&A in the telecoms industry. Katie Elias of Simmons & Simmons, Hong Kong, reviews the proposals

Later this year the EU is expected to pass legislation that will pave the way for the European Company, with far reaching implications for cross-border business in Europe. Jean-Louis Joris of Cleary, Gottlieb, Steen & Hamilton, Brussels, looks at the challenges in drafting the law and the potential benefits for multinationals

On May 29 the Banks Law was amended for the second time within two years of its enactment. The main goal of the Amendments is to bring the Turkish banking sector closer to EU standards and to clarify the authority of the Saving Deposits Insurance Fund in its dealings with the problem banks transferred to it and their shareholders.

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:

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