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James Sattin While this summer's grand inauguration of the expanded Panama Canal has rightfully taken centre stage in the conversation on Panama's role in facilitating international trade, other more subtle efforts by the government are also beginning to produce noteworthy results. In particular, in April Panama's legislature passed Law 8 of 2016, which, among other things, restructured the Colon Free Zone. This is a long-standing international free trade zone located in the city of Colon on the Atlantic side of the Panama Canal. Law 8 replaced the 68 year-old Law 18 of 1948, which was understandably in need of modernisation.

A Global Financial Markets Association (GFMA) report has highlighted risks stemming from post-crisis Basel reforms, suggesting a cost-benefit analysis of existing and proposed bank regulation.

Doo-Soon Choi In Australia, WHITE & CASE opened two new offices in Melbourne and Sydney after raiding Herbert Smith Freehills for an eight-partner team. This includes Asia-based finance head Brendan Quinn, regulatory partner Tim Power, projects partners Andrew Clark, Joanne Draper, Jared Muller, Alan Rosengarten, Josh Sgro and Joel Rennie. Elsewhere independent GILBERT + TOBIN hired partner Justin Mannolini in Perth. He is a former Macquarie Capital investment banker.

Managers could benefit from the extension of the current EU passporting regime. Work is underway to develop a suitable regulatory framework

In the aftermath of the 2009 global financial crisis, international financial regulatory bodies such as the Basel Committee on Banking Supervision scrambled for answers to one key question: what caused the crisis. Although there were many causes, regulators uniformly concluded that a lack of sound corporate governance practices was one of the root causes of the crisis. It was said that boards of directors that were asleep at the helm, so-called runaway CEOs, figurehead audit and risk committees, and a lack of checks on moral hazard, were to blame for many of the problems.

Andrew M Garbarski In a recent milestone decision dated May 24 2016 (decision 6B_503/2015), the Swiss Federal Supreme Court (SFSC) held, for the first time, that the duty of financial intermediaries to report suspicions of money laundering may extend beyond the end of the relevant business relationship.

A Commission non-paper seen by IFLR, which sets out a framework whereby contingent convertibles (CoCos) would be given greater protection, has been heralded as a welcome clarification for investors. Under the plan, CoCos are given priority if a bank's maximum distributable amount (MDA), including dividends and bonuses, is under pressure.

The China Securities Regulatory Commission (CSRC) has conducted a sweeping crackdown on illegal private equity fundraising activities onshore, but rules and regulations specifically tailored to address them remain outstanding.

Nguyen Thi Thanh Huong Cheaper labour and long-working hours are advantages for developing countries wishing to attract foreign investment. Vietnam is one Asian country which has these advantages. According to Labor Code 2012, a normal working day is eight hours-long, which amounts to 48 hours a week. The current minimum wage for low-skilled employees in private companies ranges from VND2,400,000 to VND 3,500,000 ($109 – $159).

Islamic bonds benefit buyside and issuers but are hard to find in western capital markets. Several things need to be done to kickstart the global market