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Azleen Mohammed Saleh The guidelines on sukuk and private debt securities in Malaysia were recently revised and took effect on August 28 2014. One of the revisions made was on the tradability and transferability of unrated sukuk and private debt securities. Effective from January 1 2015, unrated sukuk and unrated private debt securities may be traded and transferred provided that: (i) they have been in the market for at least two years; (ii) they are offered only to sophisticated investors; and (iii) the requirements for revision of principal terms and conditions as specified under the guidelines on sukuk or private debt securities have been complied with. Alternatively, for rated sukuk and rated private debt securities, the issuer may discontinue the credit rating of the sukuk or the private debt securities and maintain their tradability and transferability provided that: (i) they have been in the market for at least two years; (ii) they are offered only to sophisticated investors; (iii) the requirements for revision of principal terms and conditions as specified under the guidelines on sukuk or private debt securities have been complied with; and (iv) at least one annual rating review has been completed after January 1 2015.

James Sattin A timeless standard by which to assess the ease of doing business in a given jurisdiction, and, indeed, the strength of an economy, is access to credit. With this connection between access to credit and ease of doing business in mind, Panama has recently updated its legislation governing the creation of security interests on personal property by means of Law 129 of 2013. Intended to replace the outdated Decree Law 2 of 1955, the stated purpose of Law 129 is to 'promote access to credit and modernise the system of security interests on personal property.' In particular, some of the shortcomings of the prior regulatory framework were the high costs involved in obtaining credit, the cumbersome and repetitive registration process, the prohibition on obtaining a second or third mortgage on the same property, and the limitations placed on the rates and timeframes of the security instrument. Law 129, based on the model prepared by the Organization of American States (OAS) used in similar legislation throughout Latin America, provides numerous advantages to businesses seeking credit, and especially to small businessmen, who are typically only able to provide security in the form of movable property rather than real estate. Specifically, Law 129 enlarges the types of goods upon which a security interest can be placed, such as the inventory of a business and its intangibles, including trademarks, patents, and intellectual property. Further, the newly-enacted law allows for successive mortgages on the same good, establishes priority rules for security interests, provides a mechanism for the return of money to the consumer when the value of the secured goods exceeds the amount of the outstanding obligation, and streamlines the registration process by replacing the necessity of a public deed for personal property, with the submission of certain forms or sworn declarations which can be directly registered with the public registry, thus saving both time and money.

The recent changes are broadly positive. But Borja Garci´a-Alama´n and José María Gil-Robles explain why they don’t mark the end of the journey

The bank’s latest RMBS deal sidesteps the collateral and cost associated with the usual swap solution

The country's restrictions on promoting offshore products are vague at best. Here’s how foreign marketers can solicit investors, without falling foul of the rules

Strong equity markets have prompted sellers to consider parallel exit routes. But as By Herbert Smith Freehills' Philippa Stone and Nick Baker explain, running two deals at once prompts legal challenges

Clifford Chance's Stuart Ure and Mark Dickinson describe how the wave of regulations brought on by Basel III has sparked further innovation in Islamic finance

Amid soaring foreign demand, the renminbi's transition to a global currency seems inevitable. But internationalising the market requires new infrastructure, and presents significant risks

In Chief Counsel Advice 201423019 (CCA), the IRS [Internal Revenue Service] rejected a taxpayer's attempt to mark to market mortgage loans held in a non-REMIC [real estate mortgage investment conduit] securitisation trust. It found, among other things, that loan modifications alone were not sufficient dealer activity. Unfortunately, the CCA's tangled analysis raises more questions than it answers.

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