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Burlington Resources and Louisiana Land and Exploration have combined. The deal is valued at US$3 billion. The combined company will be one of the leading independent energy exploration and production companies worldwide.

German firm Bruckhaus Westrick Stegemann has announced the closure of its Tokyo office. The office had been staffed by a single German lawyer since it opened in 1990.

McCarthy Tétrault, Toronto and London

Aird & Berlis, Toronto

The Dutch Supreme Court recently confirmed parties’ freedom to determine the choice of law in an assignment of receivables. In conjunction with new rules on SPVs, the result is a likely boom in Dutch securitization. By Piet-Hein de Jager of Loeff Claeys Verbeke, Amsterdam

The Privy Council restored Rogers J's decision in Canon Kabushiki Kaisha v Green Cartridge Co (HK) which the Court of Appeal overturned, as reported in this column in May 1995 and September 1996.

The US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has amended Rule 17f-5, relaxing the rules applying to US investment funds holding foreign assets outside the US. By Marcia MacHarg and Matthew Chambers of Debevoise & Plimpton, New York

On July 19 1997 the Commission published a Communication on certain legal aspects concerning intra-EU investment. The Commission examined the compatibility of national measures which restrict cross-border investment with Article 73b (capital movements) and Article 52 (right of establishment), to conclude that:

Until now, investments made by Spanish Collective Investment Institutions (IICs) in derivatives were regulated by the provisions of the Order of July 6 1992. This rule allowed such institutions to invest in derivatives traded on organized secondary markets both in Spain and in other countries.

The Hungarian Ministry of Justice has introduced a bill for a new Law on Economic Associations (Companies Act). The planned law would serve the purpose of further harmonizing Hungarian company law with EU rules by establishing western standards. Furthermore, the experience of the past few years has confirmed the need for a new law. Since the Companies Act came into force on January 1 1989, the law has been shown to have numerous loopholes and to be wide open to abuse. The bill attempts to address these faults.