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US petroleum refiner Diamond Shamrock is to merge with rival Ultramar in a US$2.35 billion deal. The transaction is structured as a stock swap, attracted the attention of regulators regarding Diamond Shamrock's call options after large purchases were reported a week before the announcement of the merger.

Volker Potthoff, general counsel to the Deutsche Börse, Frankfurt, talks to Graham Field

• US firm Weil Gotshal & Manges has hired senior corporate associate Andrew Harting from the New York office of UK firm Freshfields. He will join the London office of Weil Gotshal & Manges.

US Supreme Court limits punitive damages

The Commission published a preliminary draft Notice on September 10 on cooperation between national competition authorities and the Commission in cases falling within Articles 85 and 86 of the EU Treaty.

In June 1996, the Securities Committee of China's State Council issued a notice on the recommendation of the fourth batch of mainland enterprises for overseas listings. What is new is the degree of participation it allows foreign investment bankers in selecting prospective listing candidates. The submission of an analytical report prepared by the underwriter on the reorganization and listing prospects of the recommended enterprise is now required. Thus foreign investment bankers will be involved in the early stages of the screening process.

Chinese incorporated companies began listing their shares (H-shares) on the Stock Exchange of Hong Kong (SEHK) in 1993. Some H-share companies failed adequately to comply with SEHK disclosure requirements. Stricter compliance was necessary. In 1995 a combination of stricter enforcement by the SEHK and better understanding of the requirements by H-share companies resulted in substantial improvement. To ensure continued compliance with disclosure requirements, the SEHK issued extra recommendations, which should be observed in addition to the uniform disclosure requirements for all SEHK-listed companies.

Under Swedish law, a parent company owning more than nine-tenths of the shares with more than nine-tenths of the votes in a subsidiary has the right to redeem the remaining shares from the minority shareholders. The value of a minority share in such a situation must in principle correspond to the value of a majority share. If the parent company has acquired the greater portion of the shares through an offer to an extended group of persons for certain consideration, then the redemption sum shall be equivalent to that consideration, unless there is a special reason otherwise.

Publication of a draft Third Financial Markets Promotion Act (Drittes Finanzmarktförderungsgesetz) aimed at further enhancing the economic and legal framework for the operation of the German capital markets is now imminent. A number of the key changes to be introduced by the proposed Act are:

A question frequently raised both among members of the offshore community and the authorities in Cyprus is whether the existing favourable offshore tax regime will be affected in any way by the proposed accession to the EU.