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The tax consequences of a modification to US debt instruments have now been clarified by the US Internal Revenue Service (IRS). Richard Andersen of Jones, Day, Reavis & Pogue, New York, looks at the implications

The following is a summary of recent developments:

Dr Berthold Kusserow and Dr Eva Reudelhuber discuss how own funds requirements for banks and investment services firms in Germany will change when the draft sixth amendment to the German Banking Act comes into force in 1997

Canadian firm Goodman Phillips & Vineberg opened a Vancouver office on September 9. The firm poached the managing partner for the office, Paul Goldman, from Canadian rival Lang Michener.

UK law firms Dibb Lupton Broomhead and Alsop Wilkinson merged on October 1 to form the UK's sixth largest firm and the world's eleventh largest (see page 16). The new firm, Dibb Lupton Alsop, will have 214 partners and a total of 734 fee earners, with a turnover in in the region of US$140 million. Both firms grew from strong regional bases, Dibb Lupton in Leeds and Alsop Wilkinson in Liverpool. Their London offices opened later but by merging they hope to build their City profile as well as develop an international presence. Alsop Wilkinson has offices in New York, Brussels and Hong Kong but Dibb Lupton did not have an office outside the UK.

On August 8 1996 Hollinger International completed, following a Scheme of Arrangement under section 425 of the Companies Act 1985, its acquisition of all those shares of The Telegraph plc it did not already own.

Swiss Re has agreed to purchase the Mercantile & General reisurance arm of the UK's Prudential Corporation for £1.75 billion. Swiss Re's bid has been accepted subject to regulatory approval.

In one of the most significant moves in the expansion of the legal networks of the big six, Ramon Lladó, managing partner with Madrid-based J&A Garrigues, has confirmed that the firm is in merger talks with Spanish legal firm Arthur Andersen ALT.

New York-based LeBouef, Lamb, Greene & MacRae has appointed Jude Kearney a partner in the firm's Washington DC office. Kearney was formerly deputy assistant secretary for Service Industries and Finance at the US Department of Commerce. He specializes in international trade and project finance matters and works extensively with the insurance industry on issues of its access to, licensing by and investment in foreign markets.

Provisional Measure 1541 allowing the federal government to give financial support to state governments willing to privatize state banks or to liquidate or transform them into non-financing institutions was enacted on September 5 1996. The programme will be funded by a federal government bond issue, but the public debt is expected to fall after the privatization of state assets.