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On January 16 2017, the Government issued Decree 03/2017/ND-CP (Decree 03) on casino business, after more than a decade in the drafting stage. Under this decree, a casino business enterprise is permitted to operate only within an integrated entertainment, services and tourism zone with minimum investment capital of $2 billion. Decree 03 also mentions 'small scale casino operating enterprises' with total investment capital of less than $2 billion but no specific guidance on this has been given yet. Aside from an investment registration certificate (or investment policy decision), the investment project in an integrated zone is also required to have a certificate for casino business for satisfaction of conditions issued by the Ministry of Finance. Decree 03 also regulates the number of gaming machines and gaming tables based on the total committed investment capital of the project, with maximum of one gaming table and 10 gaming machines for every $10 million of investment capital. The decree also provides that for a period of three years (from the date on which the first casino business enterprise was licensed to conduct the trial), Vietnamese resident citizens, subject to certain restrictions, are permitted to gamble at casino business locations, on a pilot basis.

On March 10 2017, the Federal Council of Switzerland opened a hearing procedure for the amendment of the Lex Koller, the law restricting the acquisition of real estate by persons abroad. The Federal Council proposes in part very severe restrictions. For this reason, the Federal Council is not formally proposing to implement the most controversial changes relating to commercial properties and listed real estate companies, but rather is putting them up for discussion only.

Because of the similarities they share with conventional bonds, sukuk may be a solution to help finance green infrastructure and climate-related initiatives. But some obstacles remain

Eun Joo Kang, Sung Yun Kang and Jay Lee of Bae Kim & Lee discuss the impact of a proposed relaxation of bank ownership restrictions for internet banks

Marcus Chow of Bird & Bird gives an overview of the various sources of financing and initiatives available for fintech startups in the city-state to support their growth strategies

The jurisdiction is making strides to promote cooperation between financial institutions and fintech companies, as Yuri Suzuki and Takafumi Ochiai of Atsumi & Sakai demonstrate

Jae In Lee and Se Yeong Im of Bae Kim & Lee examine how regulators are increasingly turning their attention to the country’s virtual currency market

Kwang Bae Park, Hyun Koo Kang and Hwan Kyoung Ko of Lee & Ko assess how fintech deregulation will play a key part of Korea’s fourth industrial revolution movement

The region’s financial hubs are vying for supremacy in the emerging sector. It’s a tight race

This month's issue explores if equivalence is a backdoor route for UK firms to maintain access to EU markets