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Finance lawyers are calling on the European Commission to drop proposals for a new takeover directive, which they say could damage Europe's capital markets. In an article in this month's IFLR, the chairman of the company law committee of the City of London Law Society, James Palmer, calls on The High Level Group of Company Law Experts which is making the recommendations in a report to the commission, to think again.

The UK treasury has stated that proposals to change rules that allow investors to defer tax payments on hedge funds earnings are at a very early stage after criticism of a recent consultation paper. The report on offshore funds states that British residents should pay tax on overseas investments as they would with UK-based investments. The report goes on to suggest that investors should pay tax on an annual basis rather than when they close out their position.

China has announced its intention to relax the strict rules governing the operation of foreign law firms. In its latest round of licences, issued to five Hong Kong firms, Deacons has become the first partnership to be awarded a licence to open a second office in mainland China. The Ministry of Justice has given Deacons the go-ahead to set up in Beijing, eight years after the firm opened its first office in Guangzhou. It is expected that the next round of licences will extend the opportunity to open second offices to foreign firms, many of which had previously been forced to make a difficult choice between opening in Shanghai or Beijing.

The Japanese government is calling for new securitization laws that will encourage banks to offer cheaper mortgages to low earners. The Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport has submitted a plan to the Diet to amend the Housing Loan Corporation Law, changing the Corporation's role to that of a clearing-house for residential property securitization.

Investment banks are preparing for tighter regulation of the activities of analysts after financial watchdogs on both sides of the Atlantic moved to boost investors' confidence in the impartiality of banks' advice. Mounting concern in Europe and the US about researchers advising clients to buy stocks only because investment banking colleagues stand to win business from the companies in question has led regulators in Germany and France to issue new rules governing the conduct of stock-rating specialists.

In line with its commitments to the World Trade Organization, China is opening more businesses to foreign investment. Andreas Lauffs and Andrew Tan of Baker & McKenzie look at the new regime

In this final article in a series of three, Philip Gilligan and Alastair Timblick of Lovells consider the routes a distressed bank may take to survive

With a firm commitment to renovation, Vietnam is set to strengthen its banking industry. Tony Foster, of Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer, Hanoi, explains the latest changes

A recent ruling clarified the extent to which selling shareholders are liable under US securities law. By Christian Droop and Sarah Casey Otte of Milbank, Tweed, Hadley & McCloy LLP

Germany's latest financial reforms will affect everything from listing shares to trading derivatives to storing information about bank customers. Gabriele Apfelbacher of Cleary, Gottlieb, Steen & Hamilton summarizes the most important changes