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In a market formerly dominated by only one practice area, privatization, lawyers are enjoying the opportunity to offer more general corporate advice. However, this is putting weaker firms under pressure and leading to consolidation. Paul Lee reports

Ruling in favour of the international chemical group Bayer AG, the Court of First Instance has suspended the Commission decision of January 10 1996 which stated that the activities of Bayer Spain and Bayer France, subsidiaries of Bayer AG, constituted an 'agreement' contrary of Article 85 of the EC Treaty.

The Banking (Amendment) Act, passed on May 21 1996, will require locally-incorporated banks to raise their minimum shareholders' funds to approximately US$1 billion from the current minimum of approximately US$540 million.

The major Hong Kong conglomerates are in the grips of spin-off fever. Cheong Kong, Henderson Land, New World Development and Wai Kee Holdings have all streamlined their operations in the past year through the use of spin-offs.

Madeira could represent an interesting alternative for Brazilian companies wishing to avoid the consequences of recent Brazilian legislation on Corporate Income Tax (Imposto de Renda de Pessoas Jurídicas), Law No. 9249 of December 26 1995, which came into force on January 1 1996.

Last July, ISVAP, the supervisory authority for insurance companies, enacted provisions on the use of derivatives by insurance companies which will enter into force as of October 1 1996. Any financial instrument the price of which is related to the value of one or more activities or indices is considered a derivative product irrespective of the way it is described.

More and more foreign investors are exploring the opportunities that exist in the undervalued assets of China's enterprises through mergers and acquisitions. Specifically, the takeover of a listed company in China is mainly governed by Section 4 of the Interim Regulations of Shares Issuing and Trading (the Interim Regulations) which was issued by the State Council Securities Committee on April 22 1993. Its major takeover provision is the 30% trigger point such that:

This Act amends the Competition Act 1991, taking effect from July 1996. Its aim is to substantially reinforce adherence to competition laws in Ireland by making it an offence for any undertaking to be party to any agreement, decision or concerted practice which is anti-competitive or to abuse a dominant position. Undertakings, their directors, any shadow directors and officers may be prosecuted by the Competition Authority. Fines of up to I£3 million (US$4.5 million) or 10% of turnover may be imposed on conviction.

Dr Berthold Kusserow and Dr Eva Reudelhuber of Oppenhoff & Rädler, Frankfurt, describe the impact that implementation of the Investment Services Directive (ISD) will have on investment services firms in Germany

Ways of taking security interests are becoming increasingly sophisticated. Here is a guide, by James E Hogan, Aigoul Kenjebayeva, Gary Sullivan, Robert Starr and Karen Widess of Salans Hertzfeld & Heilbronn, Paris, Almaty and London