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Oene Marseille Emir Nurmansyah Indonesia's Ministry of Transportation has issued an amendment to its previously issued regulation on airfare pricing. The amendment was issued on December 30 2014, and effectively places a non-waivable floor on domestic airfares. Airfares for international flights are not affected by the amendment and will continue to be governed by the rules of the International Air Transport Association.

Elias Neocleous On December 2 2014, the Cyprus finance minister and the American ambassador to Cyprus formally signed the inter-governmental agreement between Cyprus and the US under the Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act (Fatca). Fatca is an American tax measure enacted in 2010 to prevent and detect US tax evasion and improve taxpayer compliance by requiring foreign financial institutions (FFIs) to report information related to the ownership by US citizens of assets held overseas. A 30% withholding tax is imposed on transactions with overseas financial institutions and other entities that fall within the scope of Fatca unless the institution concerned has concluded an agreement with the US Internal Revenue Service defining its reporting obligations, or the institution's home country has concluded an inter-governmental agreement (IGA) covering the relevant matters. There are two main forms of IGA, known as Model 1 and Model 2. Under the Model 1 IGA, institutions subject to Fatca report information to their own tax authorities for onward transmission to the US authorities. Under Model 2, institutions provide information directly to the American authorities.

Ahmad Zulkharnain Musa On August 21 2014, the Securities Commission (SC) released a public consultation paper on a proposed regulatory framework for equity crowdfunding (ECF) as an alternative funding channel. After input from the public, the SC released the public response paper on September 25 2014, with certain revisions to the proposed framework. Under the proposed framework, issuers must be locally incorporated private companies (other than exempt private companies). They are eligible to participate in the ECF through a web-based ECF platform via a primary offering to retail, sophisticated and angel investors. They can raise up to RM3 million ($842,000) within a 12-month period and a maximum of RM5 million. Sales of existing shares through the ECF will not be permitted.

Pedro Cortés Marta Mourão The Legislative Assembly is appraising a proposal to amend Decree Law 40/95/M of August 14, which establishes the right to compensation for occupational accidents and diseases. To further enhance the protection of rights of injured workers and to clarify the procedures necessary to compensate damages arising from occupational accidents and diseases, the draft law provides for a wider range of situations that may be considered an occupational accident.

Recently there have been some notable rulings by Mauritian courts. The first is Crociani and others v Crociani and others and Princess Camilla de Bourboun des Deux Siciles. In the trust deed in question, the relevant part of clause 12 stated: 'thereafter, the rights of all persons and the construction and effect of each and every provision hereof shall be subject to the exclusive jurisdiction of and construed only according to the law of the said country which shall become the forum for administration of the trusts'.

José Miguel Puiggrós Gabriela Dañino Although Peru has a strong track record in developing infrastructure projects, it still has one of the largest infrastructure deficits in the region. There are many projects in different sectors of the economy that have been granted more than $12 billion by the Peruvian government between 2013 and 2014, which are expected to obtain financing and begin construction during 2015. Many of these projects will be financed under co-financed schemes, which will require the granting of government credit enhancements. A stable legal framework aimed at promoting private investment in large scale infrastructure projects, and a steady positive macroeconomic performance, have contributed to the development and bankability of infrastructure projects in Peru. Specifically, credit enhancement schemes granted by the government have played a leading role in attracting both investment and financing sources for this type of project. However, such schemes have evolved since the first projects, where they were incorporated as part of the financing structure.

Carmen Arribillaga Sorondo Alicia Galindo Aragoncillo The end of the year was extremely busy but successful for the so-called Spanish bad bank, the management company for assets arising from the banking sector reorganisation (Sareb – Sociedad de Gestión de Activos Procedentes de la Restructuración Bancaria). This was due to the sale of several portfolios comprising a large volume of credits (including credits to developers and office buildings and subsidised social housing units), loans (both performing and non-performing) and real estate owned to international institutional investors. These portfolios were carefully selected and structured by Sareb's business team together with external financial advisors to maximise its value. The portfolios were offered to institutional investors in an open competitive process in which they had access to all information through a virtual data room to analyse independently, to then place their binding offers. Many of these transactions (for more than €850 million, or $1 billion, in total) were completed at the end of the year due to their complexity and negotiation process.

The lighter side of the past month in the world of financial law

Prisna Sungwanna Supattra Sathapornnanon The Thai Board of Investment (BOI) administers the Investment Promotion Act (1977) under which projects are granted investment incentives, guarantees, and rights to own land. These are important factors in securing project financing. The BOI announced a Seven-Year Investment Promotion Strategy (2015 to 2021) following the issue of Announcement No 2/2557 on December 3 2014, which repeals eight past announcements. It includes a new list of activities eligible for promotion, which has a number of changes from former lists. It prescribes new activity-based incentives and merit-based incentives. Activity-based incentives are divided into Group A and Group B, as indicated in the new list. Group A activities receive corporate income tax incentives, machinery and raw materials import duty incentive,s and other non-tax incentives. Group A is divided into four subgroups. Group B activities receive only machinery and raw material import duty incentives and other non-tax incentives. Group B is divided into two subgroups.

Arendt & Medernach's Alexander Olliges, Stéphane Karolczuk and Anne-Laure Giraudeau explain why the Grand Duchy may prove a stepping stone for Chinese fund managers