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Europe's three largest exchanges are locked in a battle for control of the London International Financial Futures and Options Exchange (Liffe). Deutsche Börse, the London Stock Exchange and Euronext, which runs securities markets in Paris, Amsterdam and Brussels, have all expressed interest in buying Liffe, Europe's second largest derivatives exchange.

Gianni Origoni Grippo & Partners is planning to strengthen both its banking and finance, and antitrust practices, as Linklaters & Alliance's Italian ally tries to become more widely known as a full service firm.

In order to meet the objectives of the Financial Services Action Plan, on March 27 2001 the European Commission introduced a proposal for a Directive on financial collateral arrangements. The Belgian presidency wishes the definitive text to be put on paper by the end of 2001.

Sullivan & Cromwell last month announced the appointment of two partners in Frankfurt as it revealed plans to launch a German law practice for the first time.

A new Financial Markets Control Act (Finanzmarktaufsichtsgesetz) establishes a financial regulator with comprehensive competence, supervising all types of banks, insurance companies, and other financial services companies. The idea of having the concentration within one authority is primarily motivated by the international trend towards all-finance groups. It also looks to the potential synergies to be realized by consolidating separate supervisory authorities for the various branches of financial services in Austria. The new authority will have the status of an independent agency.

Following its severed alliance with Hong Kong's Johnson Stokes & Master and subsequent three-year exile from the territory, Norton Rose is preparing to reopen its doors for business on April 2 2002. Between viewings of available office space in Hong Kong's central district Paul Giles, Norton Rose's managing partner for Asia, discusses plans for the new office, China and Norton Rose's strategy for further growth in Asia.

On February 21 2001, Uruguay enacted Law No. 17,296 which, among other things, puts an end to the state monopoly over telecommunications services and creates a regulatory entity over telecommunications operations. A summary of the main aspects of the Act follows below.

Even though the existence of electronic money can be traced back to 1918, when the federal reserve banks of the USA first moved currency via telegraphic means, electronic money is still a relatively new product. In general, two distinct types of electronic money can be distinguished: identified e-money and anonymous e-money (also known as digital cash). Identified electronic money contains information revealing the identity of the person who originally withdrew the money from the bank. Also, in much the same manner as credit cards, identified electronic money enables the bank to track the money as it moves through the economy. Anonymous electronic money works just like real paper cash. Once anonymous electronic money is withdrawn from an account, it can be spent or given away without leaving a transaction trail.

On February 22 2001, Brazil's National Monetary Council approved Resolution No 2817, establishing the rules regarding the opening of new current accounts by electronic means.

Weil, Gotshal & Manges and Clifford Chance have advised on the first securitization of royalty payments for a multi-jurisdictional music publishing catalogue. The deal, for Chrysalis Group, is the world's largest transaction backed by music rights and the first for an international music publisher. Jacky Kelly led the Weil Gotshal team acting for arranger The Royal Bank of Scotland, which is securitizing the publisher's share of royalties for the next 15 years. John Woodhall at Clifford Chance led the team advising Chrysalis.