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By Velupillai Murugesu and Kandiah Neelakandan of Murugesu & Neelakandan, Colombo

By Timothy Manring of B & M Consultants and Daniel Ginting of Hadiputranto Hadinoto & Partners, Jakarta

By Koo and Partners, Hong Kong and Beijing

By Koo and Partners, Hong Kong and Beijing

Senior Partner, Koo and Partners

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 Ontario Securities Commission (OSC) has republished proposed Rule 45-501 (the "proposed rule") on exempt distributions. The proposed rule has been revised as a result of comments received on the version of the proposed rule originally published for comment in September 2000 (the "original version").

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.