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The law in New Zealand governing security over personal property is soon to undergo significant reform with the implementation of the Personal Property Securities Act 1999 (PPSA). As previously reported (IFLR, December 1999) the PPSA, which was passed by parliament in October 1999, will introduce a regulatory regime for all security interests taken in personal property (which covers property including goods, motor vehicles, livestock and shares and other investment products, but not land and buildings). Holders of security interests in personal property will need to register prescribed details of their interests on the Personal Property Securities Register (PPSR) to perfect those interests. Registration will usually ensure priority for a security over another security that is not registered.

Clifford Chance, Shearman & Sterling and Denton Wilde Sapte have advised on two of the first deals to build own and run power stations in the Gulf State of Oman, marking a significant step forward in the privatization of the power industry in the Gulf state. At the beginning of March Clifford Chance announced the completion of the $130 million Al-Kamil gas fired power station project on which it acted for International Power, while Shearman & Sterling expects later this month to close a similar deal for AES Barka, a joint venture of US company AES Corporation and Oman company Multitech. In both cases British firm Denton Wilde Sapte acted for the government of Oman.

In March IFLR held ceremonies in London and Hong Kong to celebrate the achievements of the international legal market’s top firms. In this issue we present the winners and runners up in this year’s awards, with analysis of what it took to win the deal and team awards. Leading the pack were Sullivan & Cromwell who won IFLR Team of the Year, and Linklaters & Alliance who won International Law Firm of the Year for Asia

For years Spanish firms had a comfortable grip on their domestic market, coexisting almost peacefully with their international rivals. But now competition in the Spanish legal market is growing as firms enter a new phase. Thomas Williams reports from Madrid and Barcelona

Legal advisers:

Regulatory Environment in the year 2000 By Bela Déri of Déri & Lovrecz, the associated law firm of KPMG in Hungary, Budapest

Mergers and acquisitions – regulatory developments By Justin McKenna, Marco Hickey and Siobhan Buckley of LK Shields Solicitors, Dublin

By Ewout Stumphius, Loyens & Loeff, Rotterdam

Morgan Lewis & Brockius

The new German Takeover Act By Klaus Riehmer and Oliver Schröder of Haarmann, Hemmelrath & Partner, Frankfurt am Main