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The long-awaited amendments to the provisions of Canada's provincial securities legislation governing takeover and issuer bids (sometimes referred to as the Zimmerman amendments) took effect on March 31 2001. The amendments apply to each Canadian province that has securities legislation governing takeover and issuer bids, other than Québec, where the securities regulators are awaiting legislative approvals required to implement the amendments.

Effective April 19 2001, the Central Bank of Chile decided to remove the restrictions imposed on foreign exchange transactions. To many economists this decision represents the last step of a gradual deregulation process started by the Central Bank in 1998.

UK firm Linklaters has advised on a $4.3 billion transaction to take diamond mining group De Beers private. The deal, which is the second largest transaction ever to take a publicly-quoted company private, was confirmed at the end of March and is expected to become effective under the South African Scheme of Arrangement this month. Linklaters advised DB Investments, a consortium company formed by Anglo American, Central Holdings and Debswana Diamond Company, on the financing of its take-private of De Beers group. The firm also acted alongside Maitland & Co as legal advisers to Central Holdings and acted for Anglo American. Clifford Chance advised mandated lead managers UBS Warburg and Dresdner Kleinwort Wasserstein, while Ashurst Morris Crisp advised Debswana.

The Prudential Insurance Company of America, the second biggest life insurer in the US, is set to raise $3.9 billion later this year in an initial public offering (IPO) when it demutualizes.

Andersen Legal is re-entering the Hong Kong market after its failed association with Ede Charlton. It will return to the Hong Kong market through a merger with Kwok & Yih, a local firm comprising five partners and 16 associates that is strong in capital markets, corporate finance and M&A.

"A cocktail of Kafkaesque inefficiency"

Lovells is to strengthen its capability in Tokyo, with plans to focus on expanding its mergers and acquisitions (M&A) and securitization teams by adding lawyers from its London office and by looking to bring in new hires. Lovells has kick-started its plans to grow in Japan by relocating new partner Tim Lester, a securitization specialist, from London to Tokyo. Lester, who is one of 24 partners who were made up by Lovells on May 1, moved to Tokyo to join Rupert Lewi (corporate finance) and Michael Hancock (structured and project finance), the firm's two locally-based partners.

Howard Davies Howard Davies, chairman of the UK's Financial Services Authority (FSA), warned in April that his fellow European regulators must take action if European banks are to benefit from the new Basle Capital Accord in 2004. Speaking at a conference on the accord in London, Davies urged Europe to make faster progress towards implementing the necessary legislation if it is to be able to start using the accord at the same time as the US and other non-Europeans.

Financial institutions have called on the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) to clarify its new disclosure rule.

A year ago Nordic law firms were reaping the benefits of booming capital markets work for high-tech companies. The collapse in equity values may have frozen the flow of deals but, as Thomas Williams reports, lawyers are finding they can help clients in bad times as well as good