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The Polish government, when implementing the "Principles of Operation of the Energy Market in Poland in 2000 and Subsequent Years", which determes the agenda of actions to be taken towards liberalizing and privatizing Poland's energy sector, organized the creation of the Polish Power Exchange. Its founding act was signed in November 1999 and the first market transactions were concluded in June 2000.

The European Company Statute (ECS) continues its tortuous progress towards implementation. On December 20 2000, political agreement was reached by the EU's Council of Ministers to establish the Statute, and on the related Directive concerning worker involvement in European companies. However, the question remains as to whether the compromise reached, which is still to be endorsed by the European Parliament, will in practice be palatable to countries such as the UK with less of a tradition of worker involvement, than other countries.

In December 2000, Kazakhstan took another major step to reform its financial sector by adopting a modern insurance law. In a region where the concept of insurance and the need for it are still widely misunderstood, Kazakhstan's Law on Insurance Activity aims to create the type of domestic insurance industry that is necessary for any market economy to function smoothly.

Cleary, Gottlieb, Steen & Hamilton and US rival Brown & Wood have acted on the euro 17.5 billion ($15.7 billion) multi-currency bond offering by France Telecom, the largest corporate bond offering to date. Clearys, led by John Brinitzer, advised lead managers BNP Paribas, Credit Suisse First Boston, Morgan Stanley Dean Witter and Schroder Salomon Smith Barney. Brown & Wood advised France Telecom. Representing France Telecom out of Brown & Wood's New York office were partners Jack Kantrowitz and Nicholas Brown. Partner John Russell was advising from the firm's London office.

Davis Polk & Wardwell and Allen & Gledhill have advised on Asia's first hybrid tier-one financing. The deal, for the Development Bank of Singapore (DBS), was welcomed by investors despite launching into fragile markets. Davis Polk, advising Morgan Stanley and Goldman Sachs on the international tranche, and Allen & Gledhill, advising DBS on the domestic tranche, are the first firms to work on such a deal in Asia and worked closely with the Monetary Authority of Singapore to establish the regulatory structure.

A poor year for capital markets work and the prospect of a slowing economy are adding to the pressures on Portuguese law firms to define their strategies. Thomas Williams reports from Lisbon on what firms are looking to do next

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

Linklaters and A&O act on benchmark Polish bond issue

Derivatives have traditionally been viewed as forbidden territory to insurance companies. But is this always true? Maria Ross and Charlotte Davies of Norton Rose, London, ask if the two can be reconciled

Many senior Canadian issuers access the Canadian capital markets through the shelf prospectus system, which allows an issuer which meets certain criteria to issue securities over a two-year period. A shelf prospectus is filed qualifying the total amount of securities which the issuer expects to issue over a two-year period and the issuer then issues securities in tranches depending on market conditions and its needs.