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Competition is intensifying in the emerging markets of south-east Asia. Law firms are working hard to keep up with the growth and development of the economies. Paul Lee reports

The latest offshore exchange to open will be of particular interest to mutual funds formed but not listed in the Caribbean tax-free jurisdiction. By Chris Narborough and Andrew Kidd of Truman Bodden & Company, Grand Cayman

Susanna Beltramo and Marina Savastano of Studio Legale Beltramo, Rome, look at the latest update to Italian legislation on real estate funds and Fabio Brunelli of Studio Di Tanno, Rome, looks at the tax aspects

The adoption of a new Regulation M on issue-related market activities should facilitate cross-border capital raisings. By Richard Muglia and Joel Roberto of Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom LLP, London

The Commission announced on January 22 1997 that it had cleared the acquisition by Coca-Cola Enterprises Ltd (CCE) of the whole of the share capital of Amalgamated Beverages Great Britain Ltd (ABGB), and its wholy-owned subsidiary Coca-Cola and Schweppes Beverages (CCSB), from Cadbury-Schweppes (CS) and CCE's parent company The Coca-Cola Company (TCCC). CCSB was established in the UK in 1987 to bottle and sell a range of soft drinks, including Coca-Cola, Schweppes, Fanta, Sprite and Canada Dry. The purchaser, CCE, is the world's largest bottler of Coca-Cola products.

On July 1 1993, Sweden enacted new competition legislation. The Swedish Competition Act broadly conforms to the rules applying in the EU under the Treaty of Rome. As for notification of acquisitions, the Competition Act provides that the acquisition of a company or business (the object) in Sweden must be notified to the Swedish competition authority, Konkurrensverket, if the aggregate turnover of the purchaser and the object exceeds Skr4 billion (US$542 million) during the preceding business year. If the purchaser belongs to a group, the aggregate turnover of the entire group will be decisive when establishing the purchaser's turnover.

Poland began 1997 by implementing a unique mass privatization programme (MPP) through special purpose investment funds. The legal basis of this programme is the Law on National Investment Funds and their Privatization (the Law), dated April 30 1993 (Dz U No 44, 202, 1993 as modified).

Under a Ministry of Justice proposal yet to be formally released, Finland would legislate to clarify the regulatory regime for netting in the securities and currency markets. The present uncertainty surrounding the legality of netting under Finnish insolvency laws would be largely dispelled by making netting (including close-out netting and multi-party netting) and certain related procedures expressly enforceable if based on terms, such as those of the ISDA master agreement, widely used in securities and currency trading.

In November 1996, the Consumer Council published a Competition Policy Report urging the government to enact competition laws on collusive agreements, abuse of dominant position, abuse of collective dominance and control of markets through mergers and acquisitions. The report was the first of its kind in Hong Kong, which at present does not have any laws governing monopolies, cartel-like supply structures and other anti-competitive practices.

From November 1 1996, the Ghana Stock Exchange adopted new rules establishing the Securities Clearing and Settlement House (SCSH), which serves as a centralized clearing and settlement facility for stock exchange trades. The SCSH is run on a day-to-day basis by the managing director of the stock exchange. Policy for the SCSH is set by the Stock Exchange Council.