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German firm Pünder, Volhard, Weber & Axster looks set to develop a UK finance practice by appointing senior UK banking and finance lawyers in Frankfurt and Düsseldorf. Recruitment advertisements offering partnership and senior assistant positions in a large German practice with international offices have appeared in the UK press with consultants sworn to secrecy. Rumours that Germany's other financial heavyweights Bruckhaus Westrick Stegemann and Hengeler Mueller Weitzel Wirtz were in the market have been denied, but at Pünder, where there are already US and UK lawyers, partner Kersten von Schenk does not deny that moves are underway. "At this stage I have no comments to make," says von Schenk.

Although small in volume compared with fixed-income and equity products, the market for emerging markets OTC derivative instruments looks set to grow. Ovidio E Diaz Espino, of J P Morgan & Co, looks at the products available and the obstacles they still face

Competition is intensifying in the emerging markets of south-east Asia. Law firms are working hard to keep up with the growth and development of the economies. Paul Lee reports

The Swiss Admission Board has published guidelines for issuers on disclosure requirements relating to new price-sensitive information. By Urs Schenker of Baker & McKenzie, Zurich

Susanna Beltramo and Marina Savastano of Studio Legale Beltramo, Rome, look at the latest update to Italian legislation on real estate funds and Fabio Brunelli of Studio Di Tanno, Rome, looks at the tax aspects

The latest offshore exchange to open will be of particular interest to mutual funds formed but not listed in the Caribbean tax-free jurisdiction. By Chris Narborough and Andrew Kidd of Truman Bodden & Company, Grand Cayman

Reforms last year gave Brazilian traders the opportunity to lend stock in an organized market for the first time. Fernando Prado Ferreira and Guilherme de Almeida Leite of Pinheiro Neto, São Paulo, look at the system in practice

The regulations which recently came into force in China have created problems in the area of foreign-sourced financing but their effects have been offset by other measures. By Brian Hansen and Guanxi Zheng of Stikeman, Elliott, Hong Kong

The adoption of a new Regulation M on issue-related market activities should facilitate cross-border capital raisings. By Richard Muglia and Joel Roberto of Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom LLP, London

Piero Luongo, legal counsel of Istituto Mobiliare Italiano, talks to Samantha Wigham