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The federal government recently passed the Financial Sector Legislation Amendment (No.1) Act (FSLA) which continues the government's financial sector reform agenda. It builds on the financial sector legislation already implemented by the government in response to the recommendations of the 1997 Financial System Inquiry.

Clifford Chance has advised Gulf Indonesia on its $9 billion gas deal with Singapore Power. Lawyers from the firm's oil and gas team in Singapore advised Gulf Indonesia and Santa Fe Energy Resources on the gas supply, transportation and sale arrangements between Pertamina, Indonesia's state-owned oil and gas company, and Singapore Power.

Pillsbury Winthrop of the US and Mexico's Creel, Garcia-Cuellar y Muggenburg have advised UK mobile phone company Vodafone on its first bid to establish a market in Latin America. Last month the company bought a 34.5% stake in Grupo Iusacell from the Peralta family for $973.4 million. Iusacell is Mexico's second largest mobile operator after Telefonica of Spain. The deal is being seen as a much needed boost for Iusacell, which last October lost out to Telefonica in negotiations to acquire five mobile phone companies operating in the north of the country.

The Belgian voice recognition group Lernout & Hauspie Speech Products (L&H) has broken off its relationship with Belgian firm Loeff Claeys Verbeke. L&H has endured a crippling last 10 months. Accounting irregularities and a Securities Exchange Commission (SEC) investigation into fraudulent activity has seen the company's share price slump.

Despite a slowing economy, the turf war in New York between established firms and new entrants continues to grow ever more aggressive, with mid-size firms coming under the greatest pressure.

Corporations will have to endure mounting legal bills and poorer service unless the rules governing lawyers are changed, a US antitrust organization has warned.

Freehills is hiring Joe Longo, the chief enforcer for the Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC), who will move to the firm's Sydney office as special counsel in May. Longo has coordinated action for the Commission on financial services and products, markets regulation, takeovers, managed investments and accounting issues. He has also worked closely with international regulators on enforcement activities.

Stephen Mostyn-Williams Stephen Mostyn-Williams has left his post as head of European acquisition finance at Shearman & Sterling to become director of business development at Landwell. Though Mostyn-Williams is credited with the success of Shearmans' acquisition finance practice in Europe, he says that he is not moving over to PricewaterhouseCoopers' correspondent law firm as a rainmaker. "This is absolutely not, 'Oh, Stephen's leaving Shearmans and he's going to start an acquisition finance practice at Landwell'," says Mostyn-Williams.

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Shareholders in European exchange Easdaq have decided to abandon rules prohibiting individual parties from owning more than 20% of the exchange. Previously, a shareholder with a stake over 20% would have been unable to vote at shareholders meetings. The London Stock Exchange has a 5% cap. The decision, which would allow an individual to take a majority stake in the exchange, comes amid rumours that Easdaq is considering a merger with Nasdaq.