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Slovak bank Vseobecná úverová banka completed the first east European bank's issue of subordinated bonds to private investors.

Dunrobin Mining Company is the first company to complete a privately funded project financing of a mine in Zambia. NM Rothschild & Sons arranged the financing for the company, which is part of the Reunion mining group. The loan was made in gold, and can be converted into US$4.5 million. Dunrobin will repay the bank in gold. Rothschild used the company's mining licence as security.

Peter Erwe and Peter Waltz of Oppenhoff & Rädler, Frankfurt, report that investment firms from other EU member states can now take advantage of the single passport under the Investment Services Directive in spite of delays in its implementation into German law

The Turkish government has completed a US$630 million project financing of a power plant. The Marmara Ereglisi plant will supply power to utility Turkiye Elektrik Uretim ve Ticaret, under a 20-year agreement. The state gas company will supply natural gas. Financing is sponsored by a consortium of Enron Corporation and Wing International, the UK's Midlands Electricity, and Turkey's GAMA Endustri. Eximbank, the Overseas Private Investment Corporation (OPIC) and the Republic of Turkey are arranging the financing with a consortium of international commercial banks. Bankers Trust Company, ABNAmro and Bayerische Landesbank Girozentrale were lead lenders for the project.

The People's Bank of China (PBOC) promulgated the new Provisional Measures of the Administration of Foreign-Funded Financial Institutions in Shanghai-Pudong Conducting Renminbi Business Pilot Scheme (the Measures) on December 2 1996. About a month later, the PBOC granted licences to Citibank, Bank of Tokyo-Mitsubishi, Hongkong Bank and Industrial Bank of Japan to conduct Renminbi (Rmb) business.

Elizabeth Wall, group director of legal services at Cable & Wireless, London, talks to Diana Bentley

On November 11 1996, South Africa's new Labour Relations Act took effect. The Act, to a large extent, replaced the prior South African labour law framework. The primary focus of the Act is the regulation of relations between trade unions and employers. However, to a lesser extent, the Act also regulates important aspects of the relationship between employers and individual employees. The Act encompasses all sectors of the labour force, in contrast to the predecessor legislation which did not cover employees in the agricultural, domestic services or public sectors.

At present the Swiss criminal code (SCC) does not contain an express provision making the manipulation of stock prices a criminal offence. However, this will change with a new provision, Article 161bis SCC, scheduled to come into force in the course of 1997. This sets out the kinds of manipulation of stock prices punishable by law and reads as follows:

The Act on bonds which came into force on August 20 1995 deals with particular types of bonds such as convertibles. Since then, no convertible bonds have been publicly offered by Polish issuers and quoted on the Warsaw Stock Exchange. However, a few convertible bond issues are now known to be in preparation. Convertible bonds need to be attractive securities to satisfy both corporate and financial needs (eg, they may serve as protection against an unexpected takeover; the public offer or private placement, as the case may be, of convertible bonds is often easier and more successful than that of standard bonds).

The Danish securities market was reformed by the Danish parliament in December 1995. The Act on Securities Trade and the Act on Stockbroker Companies (together with amendments to the Banking Act and the Mortgage Credit Act) implemented the Investment Services Directive (93/22) and the Capital Adequacy Directive (93/6). The Act came into force in 1996 and the relevant executive orders under the Act have been issued, so that we also now have some impression of the first effects of the reform.