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US firm Kelley Drye & Warren has affiliated with an Indonesian firm, Soebagjo, Roosdiono, Jatim & Djarot.The Jakarta firm, which employs 25 lawyers, will complement Kelley Drye's Hong Kong office. Stephen Stein, a partner in New York, will be responsible for the Indonesian Practice Group, though the Hong Kong partners will have a significant role in overseeing the office. Foreign firms' activities in Indonesia are limited, forcing most to affiliate with local firms. Kelley Drye follows Baker & McKenzie, Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom and several other large international firms into Jakarta. US-qualified associate Gregory McMahon will be the first lawyer to move across from the Hong Kong office. "We expect McMahon will be there full-time soon, after which it depends on how business develops," says Stein. "It is probably going to be quite slow for a while, but the potential for growth is there—currency problems notwithstanding."

Chinese company Bengang Steel Plates was floated by an international placing of B shares on the Shenzhen Stock Exchange.

A consortium led by Tarmac has won a contract to design and construct a general NHS hospital. The contract, which includes the operation of the hospital's non-clinical services for at least 25 years, is worth £143 million (US$232 million). The deal is the first major private finance initiative (PFI) project in the British health sector.

US chemicals group DuPont is paying £1.8 billion (US$3 billion) for the titanium dioxide and polyester businesses of the UK's ICI. The deal is part of ICI's programme to fund its £4.9 billion acquisition of Unilever's speciality chemicals businesses.

Cleveland firm Squire, Sanders & Dempsey has opened an office in Madrid. The office will be headed by Juan Picón, formerly at Clifford Chance, Madrid. It opened on September 1 and will be staffed by six lawyers.

The German Securities Trading Supervisory Authority’s latest guidelines for the conduct of investment services business are out. Alexander Vogt and Peter Waltz of Oppenhoff & Rädler, Frankfurt, assess them in the context of existing rules

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.

A consortium of firms, including Soros funds, Deutsche Morgan Grenfell, Renaissance Capital, Uneximbank and Morgan Stanley Asset Management successfully bid US$1.875 billion for a 25% stake in Svyazinvest, the Russian telecoms holding company.

Reforms to the Italian capital gains tax system will have significant implications for the capital markets and the repo and securities lending markets. By Susanna Beltramo and Marina Savastano of Studio Legale Beltramo, Rome