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Mark Harding, general counsel of Union Bank of Switzerland, London, talks to Samantha Wigham

The American chapter of litigation involving the financially distressed Lloyd's of London has been active. American Names who have opted not to participate in the settlement contained in the Lloyd's Reconstruction and Renewal Plan recently sued Lloyd's for fraudulent misrepresentation in two cases filed in the federal court in New York: Stamm v Lloyd's and Grace v Lloyd's.

The commoditization of energy and the development of a European energy market is well under way — but will remain incomplete while there is no standardized master contract available. By Mark Haedicke of Enron Capital & Trade Resources Corporation, Houston

The Ontario Securities Commission is attempting to dispel the uncertainties surrounding the status of over-the-counter derivatives trades. By Philip Henderson and Ron Schlumpf of Stikeman, Elliott, London and Toronto

Austria's largest bank, Bank Austria, outbid three rivals to acquire a 70% stake in Creditanstalt, the country's second biggest bank. The Austrian government has been trying to privatize the stake for six years. The bank paid Sch17.2 billion (US$1.55 billion) for the stake. Bank Austria is now making a partial cash offer of a minimum Sch772 per share to Creditanstalt's minority shareholders and giving them the opportunity to convert the rest of their shares into Bank Austria equity.

Dutch financial services company Aegon is buying the insurance operations of Providian Corporation in a US$2.62 billion stock transaction. It is the largest acquisition in the life insurance industry.

Bank Security and Other Credit Enhancement Methods

The Amsterdam Stock Exchange has been looking at corporate governance and its relation to shareholder power and the functioning of the market. Anti-takeover devices are also in question. By Martin Brink of Derks . Star Busmann . Hanotiau, Utrecht

UK firm Freshfields has lost out to rival Linklaters & Paines in a ranking of firms advising on public takeovers in the UK. The table, published by Acquisitions Monthly, places Freshfields third in its top 20 survey. In 1995 Freshfields advised on 31 deals worth a total of £32.2 billion (US$51 billion), while in 1996, it advised on 17 deals amounting to only £9.5 billion. However, the table reveals that in 1996 both the value and number of deals decreased significantly overall. The results put Linklaters & Paines top with £19 billion-worth of deals. Slaughter and May remained in second place, with deals worth £16.3 billion, although it had advised in six more deals than Linklaters. Ashurst Morris Crisp leapt from 13th place to fourth, advising on 15 deals worth nearly US$9 billion. Other big changes in the rankings came from Macfarlanes, which jumped from 14th place to seventh and Simmons & Simmons which slipped four places.

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