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The Republic of Indonesia structured its recent sukuk to permit greater flexibility in its underlying assets. Other sovereigns are expected to follow.

More than a year after a Jakarta court ruled a loan agreement void because it was not translated into Bahasa Indonesia, lawyers are still uncertain about local language translation requirements

A ruling in MPM Silicones' Chapter 11 proceedings could be detrimental to the amount secured lenders in future reorganisations can expect to be repaid.

Fabrice Cohen, Clifford Chance Alex Bafi, Clifford Chance In London the most active firm in the past month turned out to be JONES DAY. The US firm has been steadily adding to its ranks for the past year but late summer saw a flurry of hires across the finance and corporate teams. Arguably the most high-profile addition was that of high-yield specialist Jonathan Bloom who joined from Ropes & Gray. The New York qualified partner was a founding member of Ropes & Gray's London base in 2009. Joining him at Jones Day are M&A specialist Benedict O'Halloran, who moved from an in-house position at GE, and structured finance and securitisation partner Neil Hamilton who made the switch from Paul Hastings. Another high-yield partner on the move was Gil Strauss. The former Weil Gotshal partner re-joined SIMPSON THACHER & BARTLETT at the end of August. Strauss had only been with Weil since 2012, and with his previous firm – Freshfields – for two years having moved from Simpson Thacher in 2010.

It wasn't supposed to take this long. Hong Kong's renminbi (RMB) bond market was purportedly born back in July 2007 when the China Development Bank (CDB) issued 5 billion yuan worth of renminbi-denominated bonds. At the time, this correspondent had just moved to Hong Kong and was covering the Asian market for IFLR. Back then, the mood in China was more expectant than hopeful: bankers and their counsel were confident that CDB's bonds would lead to many more. They anticipated full internationalisation of the currency within two to three years.

Bain Capital’s acquisition of 50% of socially-conscious Toms Shoes demonstrates how charitable giving can be built into a corporate structure

Stephen Crosswell, Baker & McKenzie Anna-Marie Slot, Ashurst In Hong Kong we have seen early signs of horse trading as KIRKLAND & ELLIS recruited leading Asia restructuring lawyer Neil McDonald and rising star Damien Coles from Hogan Lovells. In return, the UK firm poached corporate partner Steven Tran from Kirkland. As competition law continues to develop in Hong Kong and China, BAKER & MCKENZIE bolstered its offering in the city-state by hiring Clifford Chance partner Stephen Crosswell.

The Hong Kong government's successful sukuk signals that more Asian jurisdictions must take Islamic finance seriously. The $1 billion sukuk al-ijarah, issued under Regulation S and Rule 144A, achieved the tightest-ever pricing for a benchmark-sized sovereign issuance from Asia ex-Japan; investors in the Middle East took 36% of that deal.

Adil Hussain, Clyde & Co In Saudi Arabia, LATHAM & WATKINS hired corporate partner Sami Al-Louzi from Vinson & Elkins, which has been scaling back its Middle East operation for more than a year. He will work across the firm's Riyadh and Dubai offices, focussing on cross border M&A and equity capital markets deals in the region. CLYDE & CO hired Herbert Smith Freehills partner Adil Hussain, who specialises in advising banks on structuring and developing shariah-compliant products, in Abu Dhabi. Hussain's departure leaves his old firm with only one partner in the country's capital.

RBI has, once again, changed its mind on temporary write-downs The Reserve Bank of India (RBI)'s amendments to its Basel III guidelines buck global trends on write-downs and on retail investors participating in the regulatory capital market. The amendments, notified on September 1, included several surprising elements. They reintroduce temporary write-downs to the market – after a previous notification said that they would no longer be permitted – and now permit retail investors to buy Basel III-compliant bonds.