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Denton Hall has pulled out of the reported discussions between three London firms on a possible three-way merger. The two other firms, McKenna & Co and Cameron Markby Hewitt, are reported to be continuing their discussions, but other plans may intervene.

For the first time, Austria's bar association rules are being called into question and competition is likely to arrive soon. Austrian firms are preparing for mergers to face that competition. By Samantha Wigham

US law firm Dechert Price & Rhoads has brought in four new lawyers to strengthen its Brussels office. International litigation and arbitration partner Melvin Schwarz has relocated from New York. "Our office has two divisions: the international division and the Belgian corporate and commercial practice," explains Brussels managing partner Richard Temko. "Melvin will be concentrating on litigation outside Belgium, in particular arbitration panels in London and Paris."

A draft Legislative Decree implementing EU Directive 19/94 was submitted in September to Parliament by the Council of Ministers.

Spanish tax law provides a significant obstacle to the implementation of Employee Share Participation Schemes (ESPSs), in that the transfer of shares to employees at no cost or at below-market prices is subject to taxation. Perhaps for this reason, such schemes have not become well developed in Spain.

Despite their frequent use in Canada, US lawyers are often puzzled by bankers' acceptances. Lisa Boulton of Tory Tory DesLauriers & Binnington, Toronto, explains why they are so popular in Canada's money markets

The Royal Trust Bank decision has left uncertainty as to how best to create a fixed charge over receivables. Chris Hanson and Geoffrey Yeowart of Lovell White Durrant, London, attempt to reconcile the cases

US firm Oppenheimer Wolff & Donnelly will merge with Californian intellectual property (IP) firm Poms, Smith, Lande & Rose on January 1 1997. The new firm will have one of the largest IP practices in the US and hopes to rank in the top 10 firms for trade marks issued. The firm will have 11 offices.

The Central Bank of Russia recently issued Instructions giving foreign investors greater scope to invest in rouble-denominated bonds. By Mira Davidovski and Robert Chernoff of Salans Hertzfeld & Heilbronn, Paris and Moscow

Following the debate launched earlier this year by the Commission's Green Paper on the review of the Merger Regulation, the Commission has published two proposals for revision of the Regulation, which it has submitted to the Council of Ministers for discussion. One of these, containing the Commission's more controversial proposals concerning reduction of the 'Community dimension' thresholds, is capable of adoption by qualified majority, as envisaged in the existing Regulation. The other proposal, which requires the unanimous agreement of the member states, contains a number of improvements to the Regulation which are likely to be less controversial.