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Carlos Fradique-Mendez Ana María Rodríguez As the IMF has pointed out, a country's position on anti-money laundering and terrorism financing may facilitate its integration into the global financial system and strengthen governance and fiscal administration. In line with this, Colombia has made recent developments regarding anti-money laundering and terrorism financing. In a new regulation for companies in the real sector of the economy, the Colombian Superintendence of Companies has set out certain obligations that must be observed by all legal entities that, as of December 31 2013, had an income exceeding 160,000 monthly minimum legal salaries (approximately $49 million). Before the issuance of Regulation 304, regulations against money laundering and terrorism financing (ML/TF) were focused on some specific industries of the economy (such as the financial sector, football clubs, courier and mailing entities, gamble and games entities, gold exporting and importing entities, securities transportation, and custom agencies). Apart from the financial sector, other industries had not been heavily regulated, meaning that existing regulations were not comprehensive and neglected to address important matters. This resulted in the Colombian authorities being urged to update the standards and introduce new rules to act against ML/TF.

The US district court judge lost his battle against the SEC’s settlement policy, but he may have won the war. Here, a former SEC commissioner explains why

Oene Marseille Emir Nurmansyah Indonesia's House of Representatives has approved a draft government regulation on National Energy Policy (the Energy Draft), which sets out guidelines for the country's energy policy through to 2050. The passage of this long-term roadmap of Indonesia's energy policy is not without controversy and as of June 2014, the draft regulation has not been signed by the President. The Energy Draft 's target is for the nation's electricity capacity to more than double by 2025 to 115GW (as of end 2013, the installed capacity is 47GW). The capacity is envisioned to further increase to 430GW by 2050.

Pedro Cortés Marta Mourão Teixeira The Legislative Assembly of Macau is debating the proposal of a law on the prevention and repression of corruption in the context of external trade. The UN Convention Against Corruption, adopted on October 31 2003 in New York and ratified by the People's Republic of China (PRC) on January 13 2006 establishes, in its 16th article, that each State Party should adopt legislative and other measures to discipline acts of corruption by foreign public officials and officials of public international organisations, whether undertaken actively or passively.

Ecommerce in India is growing exponentially in several areas, including online travel services, retail, and other services such as taxis, education, hospitality, food and drink and even secretarial support. According to industry surveys, ecommerce could represent up to four percent of India's economy by 2020, compared to less than one percent now.

Nobuaki Ito The Anti-monopoly Act of Japan was promulgated on December 13 2013 and is expected to come into force within 18 months (the specific date to be determined by way of cabinet order). The Act will abolish administrative appeal procedures by the Japan Fair Trade Commission (JFTC) for certain JFTC orders. In addition, a supplementary provision of the amended act provides that the government will, within one year of the promulgation date, consider changes to investigation procedures to preserve the rights of potential interested parties and maintain consistency with other administrative procedures, and will take appropriate measures as necessary in accordance with the discussions. In response to this, an advisory panel was set up and one of the main points for consideration is whether attorney-client privilege should be introduced for anti-monopoly procedures in Japan. In Japan, there is no attorney-client privilege in criminal or administrative investigation procedures. However, some assert that this should be granted in respect of anti-monopoly investigation procedures because: (i) companies providing information which involve communications with their attorneys in response to report orders from the JFTC may possibly be waiving attorney-client privilege that, with respect to these communications, would otherwise be recognised in foreign jurisdictions; and, (ii) granting attorney-client privilege to an extent similar to common law jurisdictions will not unduly hinder JFTC investigations and the JFTC can seek and collect relevant non-protected materials.

A new act on private flat renting (Act) came into force on May 1 2014. It is intended to improve the position of landlords and motivate investors to build private rental flats, and is a special piece of legislation compared to Civil Code. It means that rights and obligations of the landlord and tenant related to private flat renting will be governed by provisions of the Act. The Civil Code will be used only in cases not covered by the Act. The Act does not apply automatically; it is subject to the tenant's acknowledgement that the rental agreement is entered into in accordance with the Act. Hence, parties may still decide to use the legal regime under the Civil Code.

On May 23 2014, the Kenyan Parliament ratified the Double Taxation Avoidance Agreement (DTAA) signed with Mauritius in 2012 so as to make it effective as of January 1 2015. Mauritius will bring the DTAA into effect on publication of a Gazette notice – this is expected to take place before January 1 2015.

A disjointed regulatory framework has hampered efforts to oversee private investment funds. Here are the lessons that must inform the next round of rulemaking

Banks’ use of the template is not as guaranteed Private equity exits in China have been rare in recent years due to domestic regulatory issues and structural shifts in its economy. But limited partners (LPs) have called for their return. Exits from Chinese investments have concerned LPs since regulators closed the country's IPO market in late 2012. The government's plans to establish a more market-driven economy might also exacerbate exit difficulties.