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US drugs company Johnson & Johnson is buying orthopaedic supplies company DePuy for US$3.5 billion. Roche Holding, the Swiss pharmaceutical company, is selling its 84% stake in DePuy to the company. Cravath Swaine & Moore is representing Johnson & Johnson of New Jersey. The team of lawyers includes partners Robert Kindler (corporate), Robert Townsend (corporate) and Stephen Gordon (tax).

UK firm Linklaters & Paines has been hired by British Petroleum for its US$50 billion agreed takeover of Amoco in the US. The oil company merger is the world's largest industrial merger and lawyer's fees are likely to be considerable. The resulting company, BP Amoco plc, will have a market capitalization of US$110 billion with 100,000 employees worldwide. It will be one of the three biggest oil companies in the world along with Royal Dutch/Shell and Exxon. The equity split will be 60% to BP shareholders and 40% to Amoco shareholders. Advising Amoco on the transaction in the US are Wachtell, Lipton, Rosen & Katz partners Andrew Brownstein and Martin Lipton. UK counsel to Amoco is Freshfields, with a team including senior partner Anthony Salz, corporate partners William Lawes and Neil Radford, EU law partners Rachel Brandenburger and John Davies, and tax partners Francis Sandison and Sarah Falk.

Allen & Overy's Frankfurt office has poached two partners from rival firms. Johannes Bruski was a partner with German firm Bruckhaus Westrick Heller Löber. Reinhard Hermes was formerly a partner in US firm Morgan, Lewis & Bockius's Frankfurt office. Bruski specializes in asset finance and cross-border leasing. He is also experienced in corporate mergers & acquisitions. He joins Allen & Overy's asset finance practice.

May the holders of American Depository Receipts (ADRs) reflecting ownership of shares in a Japanese corporation bring a shareholder derivative action on behalf of that corporation? Both US and Japanese law provide for shareholder derivative actions. However, the US Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit has held in Batchelder v Kawamoto [July 15 1998] that under Japanese law on ADRs, the holder of the ADRs did not have standing to bring the derivative action.

The Commission has put forward two proposals for Directives to establish a clear regulatory framework for electronic money within the EU. By creating harmonized minimum rules on the stability of institutions responsible for issuing electronic money, it aims to encourage the development of electronic commerce and promote confidence among consumers and business.

A recent Hong Kong case, Rudolph Robinson Steel v Nissho Iwai Hong Kong & Anor [1998], demonstrates that the parties to a letter of credit must show a clear intention if the presentation of a future document is to constitute a binding arrangement under the letter of credit.

The four firms which traditionally dominate the Norwegian market are maintaining their strong position, but new players are ready to enter the arena. The legal markets of the Baltic States continue to develop. Barbara Galli reports

“Estonia is ahead of us in marketing itself, but when you compare the actual figures we are on a similar level,” says Giedrus Stasevicius, associate partner at Lideika Petrauskas Valiuñas & Partners. Lithuania’s situation has improved significantly since last year, raising hopes for EU membership. Foreign investors are extremely active, attracted by the intense privatization programme and the good economic situation.

With an ambitious privatization programme and a thriving economy, Finland’s lawyers welcome outside interest in their country’s quiet success. Nick Ferguson reports from Helsinki

German firm Hengeler Mueller Weitzel Wirtz has put together the innovative system that will clear the majority of euro transactions once the single European currency is introduced. Despite claims that it was impossible to produce a multilateral cross-border netting system whose rights and obligations would be upheld in the various jurisdictions in insolvency situations, the new Single Obligation structure, which provides the basis for the EBA clearing system, meets all criteria and has won acclaim from all participating countries.