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In the first survey to consider the Medium-Term Note (MTN) market for law firms, IFLRev has identified the leading firms in establishing new programmes and in making drawdowns. The same three names keep coming up. By Richard Forster and Samantha Wigham

The regulations which recently came into force in China have created problems in the area of foreign-sourced financing but their effects have been offset by other measures. By Brian Hansen and Guanxi Zheng of Stikeman, Elliott, Hong Kong

Piero Luongo, legal counsel of Istituto Mobiliare Italiano, talks to Samantha Wigham

The House of Lords has delivered an important decision on the measure of damages for fraudulent misrepresentation. In Smith New Court Securities v Citibank, Smith New Court (SNC) was induced by a Citibank employee's fraudulent misrepresentation to buy shares in Ferranti from Citibank. It was subsequently discovered that a separate fraud involving fictitious contracts had been perpetrated on Ferranti designed to bolster its apparent profitability. On discovery of the second fraud, Ferranti's share price crashed and SNC eventually sold the shares at a heavy loss.

The Danish rules on insider trading are contained in the Securities Trading Act (STA) of December 20 1995 which entered into force on May 1 1996 and are basically the same as the rules contained in the earlier Securities Market Act, which implemented Directive 89/592 of November 13 1989 coordinating regulations on insider dealing. The Directive is a Minimum Directive and the provisions of the STA are more stringent than those laid down by the Directive.

The May 1996 edition of International Financial Law Review (see page 50) reported that the New Zealand government planned to abolish the right of appeal to the Judicial Committee of the Privy Council. The government has recently announced that it has scrapped this plan.

The landmark Provisional Regulations on the Administration of Qualifications of Domestic and Foreign Securities Institutions Dealing in Foreign Investment Shares became effective on December 1 1996. The regulations aim to standardize the qualifications of domestic and foreign securities institutions, such as brokerages and underwriters, that deal in foreign investment shares listed on the Chinese market and domestic securities institutions that deal in foreign investment shares listed outside China.

The Arbitration and Mediation Centre of the Chamber of Commerce of Santiago has proved to be an efficient alternative for the resolution of business disputes in Chile. Around 25 disputes were submitted to the Centre in 1995 and 1996 and the majority were resolved by agreement of the parties with the participation of the arbitrators. Typically, the first phase of arbitration consists of a conciliation effort on the part of the arbitrator exploring alternatives to a negotiated settlement.

Cravath, Swaine & Moore, New York, is representing the US drugstore chain Revco in its acquisition by rival CVS. The US$2.8 billion stock swap merger will mean CVS becomes the US's second largest drugstore chain by sales.The team of Cravath lawyers comprises corporate partners Alan Stephenson, Philip Gelston and Richard Hall, assisted by corporate associates Caroline Gottschalk, Andrew Woeber, Richard Cundiff and Andrew Pitts. Partner Michael Schler and associate Craig McCracken are advising on tax law, while senior attorney Henry Morgenbesser and associate Scott Price are handling employee benefits issues. Also advising is senior attorney Jeffrey Smith, specializing in environmental law, and special antitrust counsel is Louis Sernoff from Baker & Hostetler, Washington DC.

US industrial equipment group Ingersoll-Rand acquired Newman Tonks, a UK architectural hardware company, in an agreed £230 million (US$368 million) bid.