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Recent SEC actions show it is not just the energy industry that is coming under the Commission’s fire for manipulating earnings reports. Neil Golden of Chadbourne & Parke, Washington DC, explains why technical compliance with GAAP may no longer be enough

Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer worked opposite Clifford Chance on the £950 million ($1.4 billion) initial public offering of bookmaker William Hill which is likely to be one of the biggest UK offerings of the year. Freshfields won the mandate to act for William Hill after advising the issuer's previous owners, Nomura, on its attempt to float the company in 1999.

Linklaters and Clifford Chance act on first UK hospital refinancing

With disclosure determining investor confidence, or the lack of it, Canada has decided now is a good time to untangle its confusion of corporate governance rules. Tina Woodside and Kathleen Ritchie of Gowling Lafleur Henderson's Toronto office assess the proposals

Norton Rose has advised Deutsche Bank for the third time in recent months on structuring a securitization deal from Portugal – this time helping develop the country's mortgage market. Banco Nacional de Crédito Imobiliário (BNC) has become the second originator of a residential mortgage-backed securities transaction in Portugal, proving that the Magellan securitization for Banco Comercial Portugues in December was not just a one-off.

After initially buying 9.9% of Storebrand last year to block a rival bid, Den Norske Bank (DnB) has now agreed a full merger with the company, which values the Norwegian insurer at about $1.8 billion. In spring 2001, DnB took advantage of Norway's controversial laws on the ownership of financial institutions to block a takeover bid for Storebrand by Sampo of Finland. DnB used Norway's Financial Institutions Act, which states that no party can hold more than 10% of a Norwegian financial institution unless it bids for more than 90%, to force Sampo to drop its approach.

Sidley Austin Brown & Wood and Allen & Overy have acted on a groundbreaking mortgage securitization for HBOS, which uses a master trust structure that is likely to generate repeat business for both law firms. The £3.5 billion ($5.3 billion) deal – Europe's largest mortgage securitization – is not the first to use a master trust structure to sell a UK deal into the US, but it is the first by HBOS and the choice of legal advisers sets a template for future deals.

With the US gripped by fears of corporate dishonesty and the New York Stock Exchange proposing stringent governance rules, executives must be surer than ever that their behaviour is unimpeachable. By Mark Bergman and Heather White of Paul, Weiss, Rifkind, Wharton & Garrison

Uría & Menéndez and former Andersen Legal firm J&A Garrigues are advising on Spain's first initial public offering (IPO) in more than a year, the ¤1.8 billion ($1.76 billion) flotation of Enagas. The deal is the first Spanish IPO since airline Iberia was floated in March 2001. Garrigues is advising Enagas and its parent company Gas Natural, while Uría is advising joint coordinators Goldman Sachs and Banco Santander Central Hispano (BSCH).

Allen & Overy's Simon Gleeson rebuffs accusations that lawyers have been spreading unnecessary panic among clients following the introduction of new UK market abuse rules