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It is far from difficult to argue that the London interbank offered rate (Libor) is in serious need of replacement. Since its inception in 1969, as a mechanism by which a group of London-based banks could agree a floating rate of interest on an $80 million loan for the central bank of Iran, it has evolved remarkably little. The same cannot be said of the market it underlies, which is now estimated to have a notional value of around $350 trillion. Whether one looks at the 2012 manipulation scandal, or the fact that markets for many of the funding rates Libor purports to measure barely exist anymore, it is impossible to escape the evidence that arguably the most important benchmark in the financial markets is no longer fit for purpose. A change is long overdue.

Initial coin offerings (ICOs) or token sales as alternative financing methods continue to generate increasing interest – in Switzerland in particular. ICOs conducted out of Switzerland between January and October 2017 raised between $550 and $650 million, which represents approximately one quarter of the volume of ICOs worldwide (including four of the 10 biggest ICOs so far). In our view, despite certain legal and regulatory challenges, ICOs have to be considered a potentially attractive financing method, in particular for startups, as certain disadvantages of traditional financing methods may be avoided or mitigated.

The Trump government appears intent on repealing Obama-era regulation no matter the actual cost to individuals

The new Minerals Act (2017) came into effect on August 30 2017. Our briefing dated April 10 2017 provided some background on the former laws – the Minerals Act (l967) and the Mineral Royalty Rates Act (1966) – and a summary of major amendments. However, rules under the new Act were not enacted for some months, and many are still in draft form.

In January 2018, the Ministry of Public Security submitted the latest draft of the Law on Network Security to the National Assembly for review and feedback. The draft law requires foreign internet service providers furnishing services in Vietnam to establish a head office or representative office in its territory when its services reach 10,000 Vietnamese users, or at any time when so requested by the government at its discretion. As there is no definition provided for foreign internet service providers and the supply mode to be addressed, this draft law may cover cross-border internet service providers as well.

2017 was a record year for green bonds, as total value reached $155 billion, with a growing number of issuances coming from Asia. China contributed $36.4 billion to the total, just after the US and France. India however was only in ninth place in spite of very ambitious renewable energy targets. The majority of issuances came from banks, which were responsible for 74% of total issues.

Terms for high yield bonds and leveraged loans continue to converge, driven by growing similarity in investor bases, increased market size and liquidity, and more oversight

The US government is blocking inbound M&A at levels never seen before. What is the reason behind this unprecedented change in approach?

The CMA is consulting on changes to the Enterprise Act for certain sectors, sparking concern for increased transaction costs: http://bit.ly/2GQsKsu

A lack of clarity and a stringent legal framework are deterring issuers