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The Commission has proposed a Directive to establish a clear regulatory framework for the distance-selling of financial services within the single market.

The task force on the future of the Canadian financial services sector was established by the Canadian government in December 1996 to undertake a careful, independent and objective analysis of the broad trends affecting the Canadian financial services industry, and to provide advice on public policy issues to help the government develop a framework for the industry in the 21st century. The task force was comprised of an independent and diverse group of individuals under the chairmanship of lawyer Harold MacKay.

In the wake of Asia’s downturn, Korea has liberalized foreign investment laws and a similar move threatens the legal profession. Stephen Mulrenan reports from Seoul on why lawyers are divided over the issue of foreign competition

Switzerland's telecoms company Swisscom has been privatized in Europe's largest initial public offering (IPO) of 1998. The issue had been valued to raise about Swfr7.5 billion (US$5.6 billion) for the government and Swisscom and to give the company a market capitalization of Swfr25 billion. The deal is the first privatization in Switzerland and the largest ever IPO in the country. It follows the rapid transformation of Swisscom from state-owned entity to private company, having been incorporated in January this year. The success of the Swisscom deal contrasts with the problems experienced by other telecoms offerings. The French government has delayed a secondary offering of shares in France Telecom and Goldman Sachs has withdrawn from the underwriting group for the Telekomunikacja Polska SA IPO due to take place in November.

UK law firm Norton Rose is advising on a US$60 million cross-border Ijara leasing facility on behalf of Telekom Malaysia Berhad. The transaction is taking place in the context of recently enforced Malaysian capital controls and involves complex arrangements between investors from south-east Asia and the Middle East. Under the deal, equipment is to be sold then leased back to Telekom Malaysia Berhad using a special purpose vehicle located in Labuan. The transaction was conducted according to Islamic law, so that financing arrangements must be tied to assets rather than taking the form of cash advances with attached conditions. The Malaysian government also imposed a range of capital controls in early September, further complicating the deal arrangements.

AT&T has announced its intention to acquire Vanguard Cellular Systems. The acquisition package is worth US$1.5 billion in cash, stock and US$600 million of debt. The deal is due to be completed in the first quarter of 1999, subject to approval by shareholders and the regulatory authorities.

Formula One Holdings, which controls television rights for the motor racing world championship is planning a US$2 billion Eurobond issue within the next few weeks. The issue through Formula One Finance BV replaces plans for a flotation of Formula One Holdings. The flotation was abandoned last year following an inquiry by the European Commission into the relationship between motor racing's governing body, the FIA, the television broadcasters and the Formula One companies. The bond issue may be a preparatory move before another flotation attempt.

The decision of the UK High Court which threw the use of Chinese walls in professional firms into doubt has been overturned. The Court of Appeal has removed the injunction from accountant KPMG which barred it from acting for the Brunei Investment Agency on an investigation into the Agency's former activities. Woolf MR, giving the judgment of the court, said that the approach to such a case should be: to determine the existence of confidential information which might harm a former client; to determine whether there was a risk of that information being disclosed; and whether the former fiduciary relationship was so strong that the court should intervene with an injunction. These issues were to be determined on the facts of each case.

Allen & Overy is gaining an office in Bangkok as a result of its merger with local firm MPS & Associates. The firm already has regional offices in Beijing, Hong Kong, Singapore & Tokyo. MPS & Associates is a 18 lawyer corporate firm, working with international as well as domestic clients. It is well regarded for its banking and capital markets work. The three existing partners of MPS & Associates – Pises Sethsathira, Simon Makinson and Surapon Satimanont – will become partners in Allen & Overy on November 1.

The negotiations between Denton Hall, Richards Butler and Theodore Goddard over a possible three-way merger have been called off. The merger would have created the seventh largest law firm based in the UK, according to statistics gathered for the recently published 1999 edition of the International Financial Law Review 1000 directory. While the firms found they had a very good fit in London, that situation was not reflected overseas. Although the press release mentions "difficulties in merging the Hong Kong offices of Denton Hall and Richards Butler", sources close to the talks indicate that it proved impossible to reconcile the Asian aims of Denton Hall with the independence insisted on by the Hong Kong office of Richards Butler.