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Jaime de la Torre On May 7 2013, the new alternative fixed-income securities market (MARF) was created in Spain through a resolution passed by the AIAF management company's board of directors (governing body). The MARF enables companies (whose circumstances prevent them from accessing official secondary markets) to obtain financing through the issue of fixed-income securities. The MARF is legally configured as a multilateral trading system, directed and managed by the governing body. The Spanish Securities and Exchange Commission (CNMV) supervises MARF's governing body.

Rose Marie M King-Dominguez In a May 8 2014 opinion, the Philippines' Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) advised that the provision of 'an online platform intended to increase the sale of a particular product' is a mass media activity. Under the Constitution, ownership and operation of mass media enterprises is wholly reserved to Filipino citizens.

Soonghee Lee Hyun Suk Jung In early 2011, the prosecutor's office indicted employees of securities firms and scalpers on the charges that, in connection with transactions of the equity-linked warrants (ELW) listed on the Korea Exchange, unlawful devices, schemes and artifices were used. Based on the findings of the prosecutor's office, the employees provided unlawful means prohibited by the Financial Investment Services and Capital Markets Act to the scalpers (such as access to an internal electronic network and exclusive server of the securities firms that are unknown to ordinary investors, implementation of a scalper database, opening of preliminary ledgers, and prioritised provision of market quotations). Both the courts of first instance and appellate courts rendered not guilty decisions for the defendants of the case. The Supreme Court rendered final decisions to the same effect in early 2014. The prosecutor's office claimed that throughout the proceedings: (i) the services provided in connection with this case violated the principle that there must not be any difference in the speed of processing orders; (ii) the defendants provided the services of this case exclusively to a small number of scalpers without notifying other customers; and (iii) there is a substantial likelihood that the profits made by scalpers who used the services of the case in the ELW market would lead to losses of ordinary investors. In response to the above claims, the defendants responded as follows: (i) the services that the defendants provided are a form of direct market access (DMA) service that are not only allowed worldwide, but which are widespread; (ii) it is a common practice even in Korea for a securities firm to provide a system with faster processing speed for some of the orders, and this is a fact well known to investors. The Supreme Court's decision stated the following: (i) there is no such principle that requires parity in the speed of processing orders; (ii) it is not found that the securities firms provided the scalpers with faster services clandestinely; (iii) there is no risk that the faster services at issue may endanger the profit of other investors; (iv) given that there is no technological method for synchronising the speed of the services, if criminal liabilities are imposed on the acts of the present case, not only would it not solve the problem, but it would further compound the chaos and indiscriminately have a negative effect on various services that may be introduced as a result of development in telecommunications technology.

Until AIFMD is fully transposed, can AIFMs be confident that they can use the marketing and management passports as seamlessly as they are intended?

Oene Marseille Emir Nurmansyah The People's Representative Council of Indonesia (DPR) has issued draft legislation on banking which would cap foreign ownership in Indonesian banks to 40% and require the incorporation of any foreign bank operating in Indonesia. In addition to restricting foreign ownership to 40%, the draft legislation would also require the Financial Services Authority (OJK) to report to a specialised forum in the event that foreign ownership in a bank is less than 40%. It appears that the 40% ownership threshold is considered a desirable goal by the Council, although its exact intention in requiring this threshold is still unclear.

In Slovakia, an employee may be obtained from another employer or temporary employment agency through what is called temporary assignment of employees. This is very popular, primarily due to the financial savings associated with payroll administration, and particularly the savings involved with the costs incurred in the event of a sudden drop in production. Another advantage is that job openings can be quickly filled by suitable employees. Also, in the event of a sudden drop in production the employee that was allocated can simply be returned, effectively terminating the employment relationship without the need for a notice period and without the obligation of paying severance to the employee.

Gerardo Nuñez Money and assets laundering is the process by which the sources of funds generated by illicit or criminal activities are covered or hidden. Laundering creates the illusion that the funds are the result of legitimate activities moving smoothly within the financial system. This process of contamination is a complex and serious threat to the international community, which directly affects the financial system, government and social welfare of the nations involved. Therefore, it needs to be made a priority on their financial, economic and political agendas, so they can develop dynamic and coordinated systems of prevention and control along with legal entities and regulations capable of preventing the growth and spread of this practice.

Supattra Sathapornnanon Thai law governing surety and mortgages is found in the Civil and Commercial Code (CCC) and has been relatively stable over the years. Amendments were passed by the National Legislative Assembly on October 2 2014, which in due course will be enacted into law. The amendments were made to provide better protection and fairness to a surety and mortgagor who are not principal debtors.

Isil Ökten Mustafa Yigit Örnek The new Regulation on Undertaking of Liabilities by the Turkish Treasury (Regulation) entered into force on April 19 2014. It was based on article 8 (A) of the Law on the Regulation of Public Financing and Debt Management 4749 (Law 4749). This new Regulation provides that build-operate-transfer (BOT) projects, education projects through the build-lease-transfer model and public private partnership (PPP) projects in the health sector can benefit from the debt assumption undertaking. The scope of the debt assumption undertaking includes the partial or whole repayment of financial obligations of the project companies, including those arising from the principal loan provided for relevant investment and services and related derivative products. The debt assumption undertaking consists of: (i) the whole amount of financing costs; and (ii) (a) if the project agreement is terminated due to project company's fault, 85% and (b) if the project agreement is terminated due to reasons not attributable to the project company, 100% of the loan amount. The following conditions need to be met for the granting of a debt assumption undertaking:

Regulatory burdens on Chinese outbound acquirers have been eased. It paves the way for a more balanced cross-border investment dynamic