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Oene Marseille Emir Nurmansyah The Finance Ministry of Indonesia has issued a new regulation clarifying its internal procedures for selecting foreign lenders in government procurement areas. Under this new regulation, the directorate-general of debt management would invite certain pre-selected international lenders to submit proposals to fund government procurement plans. The directorate would choose the bidder who offered the lowest cost on comparable loan packages. The directorate would initiate the bidding process by sending out requests for proposals to at least five qualified foreign lenders, determined to be the most suitable creditors. These prospective lenders' outstanding loans would have to fall within a permissible limit. In this regard, the government would consider the amount of outstanding loan these creditors have extended to the government's counterparty. The government would also look at the type and origin of the goods to be procured. The prospective lender closest to the goods' location would receive priority. Finally, these prospective lenders would have to have a track record of providing commercial loans to the government.

Mark Griffiths, Norton Rose Fulbright The past four weeks have been relatively quiet across the Middle East region with one notable exception. KING & SPALDING welcomed back a familiar face, recruiting Iraqi outfit Confluent Law Group's managing partner Zaid Al-Farisi. A former counsel in the US firm's New York and Riyadh offices, Al-Farisi will join the finance practice working across the Dubai and Riyadh offices. In South Africa, NORTON ROSE FULBRIGHT recruited Barclays Africa Group in-house counsel Mark Griffiths for its competition practice. CLYDE & CO has announced it will enter the market with offices in Johannesburg and Cape Town. The confirmed team includes five lawyers from Linklaters ally Webber Wentzel, though there are plans to increase this figure prior to launch. Initially the focus of the work will be dispute resolution and insurance but there are plans to expand this practice to include trade and infrastructure.

Laura Widmer Until recently, Switzerland's regime for social plans was rather liberal. No obligation to conclude a social plan existed unless one was foreseen in a collective employment agreement. If companies offered severance payments or other benefits in case of redundancies, they usually did so on a purely voluntary and fully discretionary basis. Since January 2014, the amended Swiss restructuring law has been in force and the situation has changed. As a compensatory measure for loosening the legal requirements for the transfer of insolvent businesses, the new rules introduced a duty to implement a social plan in case of mass dismissals. Employers are now required to negotiate a social plan if the criteria summarised below are met.

Daniel Futej Rudolf Sivák A new legislative proposal which restricts the acquisition of agricultural land in Slovakia by foreign persons was submitted to the Slovak Parliament. Even though it has not been approved yet (it is a governmental draft and the government has majority in Parliament), it does deserve attention. As of May 1 2014, a limitation on the acquisition of agricultural land by foreign natural persons from EU states no longer applies. In this respect, the Slovak Government prepared a draft with the aim of regulating the acquisition of agricultural land. The new legislation will ensure that agricultural land is acquired for agricultural purposes and not as speculative purchases.

Mofcom’s new simplified merger review process is a welcome step towards a broader reform agenda. But ultimate success depends on its application

A new report by the Australian regulator has highlighted concerns over disclosure of material information

Are reforms to transform China’s IPO approval system into a registration system create a market-based and rule-of-law-based system of funding?

EBRD's Gian Piero Cigna analyses the results of a study which reveals that regulators in transition countries must reassess their regimes to permit boards to operate independently

Deal counsel must now navigate a minefield of sanctions against Russia. IFLR examines how the restrictions have impacted the country’s business environment

Shearman & Sterling's Donald N Lamson and Sylvia Favretto explain the significance of the US stress tests for European banks