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US law firm Squire, Sanders & Dempsey has announced plans to open offices in Taipei and Hong Kong. These will be the firm's first Asia-Pacific offices. The firm's head office is in Cleveland but it has a further 7 offices in the US and 8 offices in Europe and the former Soviet bloc. Thomas Stanton, managing partner of the Cleveland office, says: "Following our success in emerging markets in eastern Europe and the former Soviet Union, we decided to focus on China. Our offices will offer expertise in infrastructure, privatization, telecoms, finance and joint venture activity."

• US firm Brown & Wood has appointed Michael Durrer as a partner in its London office. Durrer returns to the firm after three years with Atlanta-based Kilpatrick Stockton. He joins the securitization practice group. • Mark Wierzbowski, a partner of the Warsaw office of Weil Gotshal & Manges, has been made President of the Supervisory Board of the Warsaw Stock Exchange.

US natural gas and electricity company Enron is buying UK water utility Wessex Water. The value of the transaction is £1.4 billion (US$2.3 billion). Advising Enron is UK firm Freshfields, London. The team of lawyers is headed by partners Edward Brahm (corporate), Mark Rawlinson (corporate) and Deidre Trapp (competition).

UK firm Watson Farley & Williams is to acquire the Singapore office of Sinclair Roche & Temperley for what has been described as "a substantial sum of money". The agreement is effective from September 1 1998. The move comes just a few months after Sinclair Roche & Temperley agreed an alliance with Singapore firm Colin Ng & Partners, intended to operate alongside its Singapore office.

US firm Curtis, Mallet-Prevost, Colt & Mosle has opened an office in Milan. A joint venture with Italian firm Studio Legale Gilioli, the office is headed by partner Eric Gilioli and takes the name Curtis, Mallet-Prevost & Gilioli. Curtis Mallet-Prevost sees Italy as an important addition to its European network of offices in Frankfurt, London and Paris. Managing partner of the firm George Kahale explains: "There is a lot of international work, both inbound and outbound, between Italy and the US. Our firm is also very active in Latin America and the Middle East and we have existing business in Milan representing a number of multinationals doing business in those areas." The firm will aim to build on existing strengths including corporate M&A work, joint ventures and project finance.

Presidential Decree No. 696, which became effective on June 16 1998, has clarified the rules for the issue of Eurobonds or other international debt placements by regional governments within Russia. Generally, the Decree imposes new restrictions on these activities by regional governments, and seeks to promote sounder borrowing policies. The ministry of finance is granted supervisory authority and made responsible for approving new international debt issues. The new requirements for regional governments placing Eurobonds and other international debt issues include:

Van Anken Knüppe Damstra, the Rotterdam-based firm with a strategic alliance with big five firm Deloitte & Touche, is to merge with Eindhoven-based Prinsen van der Putt. The merger will take place on January 1 1999. The move is a further step in the ambitious plans for legal services of the Dutch practice of Deloitte Touche Tohmatsu. "Within two years we expect to be one of the four biggest legal practices in the Netherlands," says a spokesperson for Deloitte & Touche. There are negotiations with other law firms under way, and the spokesperson says: "We expect further announcements in the next few months".

A recent revision of the Swiss Law on Telecommunications (telecoms law) has brought a change of certain provisions of the Swiss Criminal Code. The impact on banks and trade businesses tape recording conversations with their business partners is considerable. The recording of telephone conversations is subject to provisions of civil and public law. The Swiss Civil Code and the Swiss Code of Obligations provide general rules on the protection of personal rights.

Mezzanine debt, until recently a feature only of US project financings, is spreading to projects in other markets. The Asian crisis has increased interest in alternative funding sources. By Alistair MacRae of Norton Rose, Singapore

With the increased use of subordinated debt in projects, lawyers are faced with novel negotiating situations. This article considers the problem areas. By Peter Avery of Clifford Chance, Tokyo