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The Income Tax (Amendment) Act 1996 and the Stamp Duties (Amendment) Act 1996 were passed to curb speculation in Singapore's real estate market. The amendments, which became effective on May 15 1996, apply to certain real property and related share transactions. Gains from disposal of any real property and shares in a private company with specified real estate assets occurring within three years from the date of acquisition of such interests are now automatically subject to income tax. The gain that is subject to tax depends on the holding period of the interest after acquisition.

The income tax liability of a recipient of profits on the disposal of assets has long been a grey area of income tax law. Problems arise when trying to distinguish between taxable income and non-taxable capital gains. The recent decision of the Privy Council in Rangatira Limited v The Commissioner of Inland Revenue provided an opportunity to clarify the law in this area. Hence the decision had been keenly awaited by the New Zealand investment market.

Increased powers of Financial Supervisor

In December 1996, the Main Proposed Revisions to the Draft for the Composite Securities and Futures Bill were released by the Securities and Future Commission (SFC).

Morgan Stanley & Co International has completed a US$1.55 billion multicurrency revolving securities repo facility agreement. Barclays Bank arranged the facility.

US utility Entergy Corporation has bid £1.26 billion (US$2.11 billion) for the UK's London Electricity.

Jane M Freeberg of Watson, Farley & Williams, New York, reports on the EU Regulation blocking compliance with US sanctions against firms trading with Cuba, Iran and Libya

Two sets of rules came into force in January to provide a legal and regulatory framework for a new collective investment vehicle. Tim Cornick of Macfarlanes, London, looks at the issues

The privatization of infrastructure in the Middle East is taking private sector developers, investors and governments into uncharted but potentially profitable territory. By Martin Amison of Trowers & Hamlins, London

Tax specialists are the best paid in-house counsel, according to a survey conducted jointly by US legal consulting firm Altman Weil Pensa and the American Corporate Counsel Association. The Law Department Compensation Benchmarking Survey examines the finances of US company legal departments, and reveals that the top earning specialities are tax, and mergers and acquisitions, for which an average in-house counsel receives about US$120,000. Almost half chief legal officers earned between US$200,000 and US$350,000, while nearly 10% earned more than US$500,000. But the departments continued to rely heavily on external firms, with each, on average, using about 48 firms in 1996. This cost departments an average of US$376,162 per lawyer. The highest paid external lawyers were specialists in personal injury defence, earning US$108,151, followed by general litigation lawyers, who received US$100,938. Mergers and acquisitions specialists and intellectual property lawyers earned US$88,985 and US$85,283 respectively.