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The Russian government has announced an ambitious privatization programme for 1998 under which it plans to sell substantial equity stakes in 37 major companies of an estimated total value of over US$5 billion. The enterprises listed include such giants as Aeroflot airlines, oil company Rosneft, and pipeline operator Transneft. To implement the programme, Russia has adopted a new Law on the Privatization of State Property and on the Fundamentals of the Privatization of Municipal Property in the Russian Federation (Law No. 123-FZ, dated July 21 1997). The Law modifies some of the existing rules on the privatization of state assets, adopts new safeguards in response to past abuses, and contemplates the introduction of new players into the privatization process.

The entry into force of Law No. 675 of December 31 1996, which included personal data protection rules, raised a number of doubts about the forms the banks must submit to customers to obtain their consent for the use of their personal data.

The merger between big six professional advisory and accounting firms Coopers & Lybrand and Price Waterhouse will bring together over 1000 lawyers worldwide, according to figures exclusively compiled by International Financial Law Review. The figures, gathered for the IFLRev 1000 Directory (to be published shortly), give an insight into the extent of the ambitions of the big six firms in the legal field. Alfred Fink, a lawyer in the Paris offices of Coopers & Lybrand, says: "This is the perfect mix. They are in locations where we aren't, such as Russia. Also, Price Waterhouse is very strong in Latin America, but we are stronger in Europe than they are."

• New York's Chadbourne & Parke LLP has made seven lawyers partners. They are: in Singapore, Bruce Rader (corporate and project finance); in Moscow, Mikhail Rozenberg (Russian practice); in Washington DC, Thomas Hechl (Russian practice and project finance); and in New York, Douglas Fried (project finance), Claude Serfilippi (corporate finance), Drew Wintringham (intellectual property) and Nancy Zajac (leasing).

UK firm Linklaters & Paines is set to open its first South American office with a representative office in São Paulo. The firm has done a large amount of debt work out of Brazil but the intention is to target the potential for private sector equity work. "During the next five years we are going to see a lot of equity stuff coming out of South America so putting a team down in Brazil will put us in a very good position," says Nick Eastwell, a partner with Linklaters in London who specializes in emerging market securities.

The financing of projects in China is slowly but surely being made more attractive to international investors. Edward Lam of Shearman & Sterling, London, looks at the most recent measures

The Allen Committee’s Final Report strikes a blow for greater transparency and accountability in corporate governance in Canada. By Thomas Allen and Andrew Fleming of Ogilvy Renault, Toronto and London

Since 1984, the Statute on the Acquisition of Real Estate by Foreigners in Switzerland, commonly known as the Lex Friedrich, limits the acquisition of real estate by persons domiciled in a foreign country and by foreigners living in Switzerland. The purpose of the statute, set forth in Article 1, is "to prevent foreign control of domestic land". Foreigners were only allowed to acquire land in Switzerland under the conditions set out in the Lex Friedrich.

Recent changes in the rules of capital tax on shares traded on the Stockholm Stock Exchange created considerable turmoil. In particular, they affected foreign shareholders because companies have changed the listing of their shares to avoid tax increases.

The Singapore Mediation Centre was opened by the Singapore Academy of Law on August 16 1997 to provide a full range of alternative dispute resolution (ADR) services, in particular private, non-court based mediation, as an alternative to litigation. At the launch, the Chief Justice said that "for businesses, litigation undermines their competitiveness by eating up management time and damaging business goodwill and reputation". Echoing the government's strong commitment to mediation, the Attorney-General's Chambers have recommended that future government contracts should carry a clause on the referral of disputes for mediation when appropriate.