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The market for Brazilian sovereign debt is becoming increasingly attractive for international banks. By Walter Douglas Stuber and Adriana Maria Gödel of Amaro, Stuber e Advogados Associados, São Paulo

Anne Counihan of National Treasury Management Agency, Ireland talks to Diana Bentley

A number of foreign firms have left and are likely to leave Hungary, pushed out more by a change in the work on offer than by the planned amendments to the bar rules for foreign lawyers. Richard Forster reports

In October the Commission held an oral hearing to discuss the way forward following the publication of its Green Paper on vertical restraints, referred to in the March 1997 issue of International Financial Law Review (see page 62).

A new rule opens Saudi Arabia to independent power projects for the first time. Project finance is likely to take off, and the forthcoming power plant, Shuaiba, may be a BOO project. By Steven Miles of Arent Fox, Washington DC and Jeddah, Saudi Arabia

Tender bids for Singapore's second fixed-line licence and third mobile phone licence closed on December 31 1997.

The European Council meeting in Luxembourg on December 12 and 13 1997 developed a specific pre-accession strategy for Cyprus. The conclusions note the accession process formally begins on March 30 1998 when the Ministers of Foreign Affairs of the 15 member states meet their opposite numbers from Cyprus and the 10 central and eastern European applicant states. The European Council decided to convene bilateral inter-governmental conferences with Cyprus, the Czech Republic, Estonia, Hungary, Poland and Slovenia to negotiate the conditions of their entry into the EU and the necessary Treaty adjustments. In addition to the establishment of an accession partnership and an increase in pre-accession aid available to all applicants, the specific pre-accession strategy for Cyprus will be based on the following:

The central bank's circular 2.785 of November 27 1997 limited the total amount of margins and premiums paid by foreign capital vehicles to 5% (or 20% or 50%) of their respective net assets, when equivalent total investments in derivatives are the same as (or up to three or more than three times) their net assets.

In theory, depositors of securities with a custodian have always been able to reclaim them if the custodian goes bankrupt. But this theory has never been tested in the courts. New legislation removes any doubt. By Urs Schenker of Baker & McKenzie, Zurich

Republic Act No. 8366 (Act) was made law on October 21 1997 and took effect on November 14 1997. The law aims to liberalize the Philippine investment industry by amending certain sections of Presidential Decree No. 129 (Decree), known as the Investment House Law.