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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 news that London has finally issued its maiden sukuk has everyone excited that Islamic finance could become a viable option for corporates in the western world. However, alongside the jubilation comes another round of inevitable discussions about competition between finance centres vying to gain the biggest slice of the lucrative shariah market.

Issuers in unregistered securities offerings deserve the benefit of an auditor’s comfort letter. Cadwalader Wickersham & Taft partner David Neuville explains why counsel should start pressing the point

Linklaters' Michael Bott and Ryan Ayrton analyse the new clauses that are helping bank syndicates navigate sanctions' impact complex financial instruments

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.

Firms are facing hurdles in the race to tap the retail investor market. Debevoise & Plimpton’s Erica Berthou, Jordan Murray and Evan Neu analyse the challenges

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.

Karla María León Navarro Several laws have been enacted in Panama to regulate contracts and relationships between employers and employees. These involve specific principles to use in a labour dispute involving a disavantageous position for the workforce. Before a dispute, the judge must take into account one particular legal principle, which has been created to promote an equal relationship. The principle is mainly to protect the worker, who is presented as the legally weaker party compared with the more powerful employer. The principle in dubio pro operario was set out in the Labour Law for several reasons. First, the worker is subject to the employer's disciplinary power, direction and orders. This is a form of economic dependence for the employee, who receives benefits such as a salary, paid holiday, health insurance, sick pay, and retirement contributions.

What is troubling the regulator - and how the market can help

Political concern and misunderstandings could threaten the budding US rental securitisation industry before it has a chance to take off.