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The Insolvency Law Reform Act 1997 (1997 Act) contains amendments to Austrian corporate law, including statutory provisions to strengthen the supervisory board's control function in joint stock corporations (AG) and in limited liability companies (GmbH). The following reforms should more effectively prevent corporate insolvencies:

The year's leading deals identified and analyzed. The deals break new ground and many are templates for future transactions. By Richard Forster, Nick Ferguson and Stephen Mulrenan

The relaxation of the law that prohibits companies from buying back their own shares is now under review by the Registry of Companies.

Important features of Law 9.514 of November 20 1997 include:

The race for MCI Communications is over. MCI's board has approved a US$37 billion takeover offer from WorldCom, far in excess of rival offers from BT and GTE. The merger will create a company with a market capitalization of US$60 billion and revenues of US$32 billion. Some of the world's leading banks and law firms assembled to advise on the deal.

We are living at a time when electronic commerce is becoming an increasingly important factor in the world of business and finance. Yet the law has only begun to formulate principles and rules to govern these new methods of communication.

The planned merger between Dutch firms Loeff Claeys Verbeke, of Amsterdam and Rotterdam, and the Hague's Buruma Maris, will not go ahead. Announced in July 1997, it would have taken effect from January 1 1998 (see International Financial Law Review, August 1997, page 3). According to figures compiled for the International Financial Law Review 1000 Directory, the merger would have created Holland's largest firm, and the 29th largest firm in the world. The move reflects events three years ago, when Buruma Maris rebuffed the possibility of merger with Loeff Claeys.

China may be ready to relax restrictions on foreign law firms in preparation for entry to the WTO. Under proposals supposedly included in a document presented to the WTO in Geneva, China's foreign firms may eventually be granted some of the freedom they enjoy in neighbouring Hong Kong, where most international firms base their China operations.

A challenge to state guarantees for German Landesbanks by the European Commission need not worry creditors, who have acted in reliance on their protection. By Michael Gruson, Shearman & Sterling, New York/Frankfurt

The use of securities held by clearing bodies as security for transactions is increasing. This can cut credit risk but the conflict of law and practical difficulties need care. By Paul Avanzato of Wilde Sapte, London