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Practical changes to update the Transfer of Undertakings (Protection of Employment) Regulations are likely to facilitate the acquisitions process

Alexei Bonamin Marcus Vinicius Fonseca Exchange traded funds (ETFs) were established in Brazil through instruction number 359 of January 22 2002, enacted by the Brazilian Securities Commission (CVM), but until recently it was only possible to form an ETF backed by variable-income indices. Now, through the enactment of instruction number 537 of September 16 2013, which amended instruction number 359, the CVM has finally authorised the formation of ETFs backed by fixed-income indices. Instruction 537 also provides criteria that should be observed by the CVM when approving indices that may be used as reference by an ETF, which always existed but were not yet detailed. For example, indices should not have parties related to the administrator or manager of the ETF as provider, and must have a widely disclosed calculation methodology that includes predetermined and objective rules.

A re-examination of section 213 of the Securities and Futures Ordinance in Hong Kong

Gustavo Leon-Gomez In Honduras, during the past two decades, credit card legislation has been issued and amended on several occasions in an effort to regulate this important financial sector. These amendments have been mainly motivated by a substantial assymetry between a strong and aggressive financial sector and weak non-educated financial consumers. A fundamental principle of economic theory is that the market for goods and services is regulated by the forces of supply and demand. Theoretically at least, prices, quality, volume and the overall supply of goods and services determine the market's prevailing forces, therefore allowing consumers to make free and informed choices.

Christos Christou The sovereign debt crisis in Greece has resulted in an unprecedented plunge of the GDP by 25%, whereas prices in the local real-estate market have fallen as much as 50% since the crisis hit the country at the end of 2008. As a result, huge investment opportunities have arisen, as both the Greek state and the private sector are trying to liquidate as many assets as possible in order to repay their debts. Still, until recently, foreign investors were reluctant to enter an ill-performing economy, despite the impressive adjustment fiscal programme implemented by the Greek Government and the sweeping structural reforms adopted during the last years, which resulted in a public finance surplus for the first time since Greece joined the eurozone in 2002. One of the main reasons for this was the unfavourable taxation status for real estate investments. Two very interesting recent deals, however, show that the country is again open for business. Canadian Fairfax Financial Holdings invested €200 million ($272 million) within the last year in EFG Eurobank Properties, raising their share from 5.7% to 42%. Prem Watsa, Fairfax's CEO, called the deal "a vote of confidence to the prospects of the Greek economy". A few weeks ago, Dutch private equity Invel Real Estate and BGS Real Estate of the Israeli diamond mogul Beny Steinmetz announced a joint purchase of 66% of Pangea real estate investment company (REIC), Ethniki Bank's real estate unit for €653 million, "betting on a recovery in the country's economy". Both deals have one thing in common: they both relate to an investment in a Greek REIC and this should be no surprise.

Anup Koushik Karavadi Karan Talwar India, as an emerging economy, has hundreds of foreign companies being registered each year. Setting up business in India may be a complex process with its administrative and procedural compliances, but since the liberalisation policy in 1991, the government has time and again made changes, favourable for foreign investment and entry of foreign companies. One of the recent welcome developments is the enactment of the Companies Act, 2013, (the Act), which is more comprehensive than its predecessor, particularly with regard to the concept of a 'foreign company'. The said term is defined in section 2(42) to mean a company or corporate body incorporated outside India, and which has a place of business in India either by itself or through any agent, physically or through electronic mode, and which conducts any business activity in India in any other manner.

The rules on financial instruments admitted to a central depository in dematerialised form are laid down in different pieces of legislation, including articles 83-bis onwards of the Financial Consolidated Act and the Bank of Italy/CONSOB regulation of February 22 2008 (the 2008 Regulation).

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

Assad Abdullatiff Mauritius has, over the last two decades, forged a strong reputation as a premier international financial centre. The combination of fiscal and non-fiscal advantages together with the diverse product-base has been the key ingredient of the Mauritius success story. Although Mauritius is better known as a gateway for the structuring of investments into India and increasingly Africa, it is also being used by professional advisers and their high net worth clients as a jurisdiction of choice for private wealth management services. The enactment of the Foundations Act in 2012 has widened the choice of structures available to wealth management specialists. Traditionally, trusts have been the preferred planning tool in the context of wealth management planning for high net worth families. Mauritius law allows for the setting up of various types of trusts – fixed, discretionary, protective, purpose, spendthrift, Sharia-compliant and charitable trusts. A number of high net worth individuals (HNWI) and ultra-high net worth individuals (UHNWI) already use a Mauritius trust for estate, succession planning and family office services.

Anna Pinedo Basel implementation in the United States continues to progress, as shown by the recent release of a proposed rule on the application of the liquidity coverage ratio, or LCR. The proposed LCR is largely consistent with the Basel Committee on Banking Supervision's LCR standard, but tougher. The proposed rule would apply to internationally-active banking organisations with $250 billion or more in total consolidated assets, or $10 billion or more in on-balance sheet foreign exposure, as well as designated non-bank systemically important financial institutions that do not have substantial insurance operations. A less stringent version, termed LCR lite, would apply to smaller depository institutions. As under the Basel rule, covered companies would be required to hold high-quality liquid assets (HQLA) of at least 100% of the company's total net cash outflows over a prospective 30 calendar-day period. However, the types of assets that qualify as HQLA for US banks are more limited than those considered qualifying for European banks. Under the proposed rule, the measure of the rate of cash outflow is also more punitive, as it is based on the bank's largest net cumulative cash outflow day within a 30-day liquidity stress, as opposed to the more moderate Basel version of this calculation. US banks would have a shorter transition period than that contemplated by Basel. Covered US banks would be required to maintain an LCR of 80% as of January 1 2015, with step-ups until January 1 2017 when the LCR will be fully implemented.