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El Salvador enacted its Competition Law (CL) by Legislative Decree No 528, which entered in effect as of January 1 2006. Reforms to the law were introduced in 2007 to grant the competition authority more powers for the enforcement of the legislation.

With interest rates still low, yield-hungry investors are flocking to global debt capital markets. Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer’s Peter Allen, Mark Trapnell and Denise Ryan discuss the key market drivers and reveal the next high-yield product

International banks face regulatory uncertainty when underwriting India block trades

The Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi) is considering easing restrictions on put and call options, which may lessen M&A uncertainty

Daniel Futej Cyril Hric For the past several weeks, the European banking sector has been facing a relatively specific situation where the owners of accounts in certain banks in Cyprus had to forfeit their deposits in a manner usually seen when a bank goes bankrupt. On the other hand, one of the effective tools used by EU member states in combating tax fraud and evasion is a restriction on cash payments. This means that parties are forced to settle their monetary obligations by means of bank transfer. Slovakia also adopted a law late last year expressly prohibiting cash payments exceeding a specified amount – Act No 394/2012 on restrictions on cash payments, which came into force on January 1 2013. The Act considers cash payments to be the handing over of notes or coins, in cash, in the euro or other currency, and the acceptance of that cash by the recipient. The limit on cash payments made between natural persons who are not entrepreneurs is €15,000 ($19,600). If the parties are legal persons or natural person entrepreneurs, however, the limit on cash payments between such parties is €5,000. If a cash payment is split into several instalments, where all the instalments are associated with one and the same legal arrangement, the instalments will be taken as a whole for the determination of the value of the cash payment.

With debate continuing around the interpretation of standard provisions in sovereign debt, the International Capital Market Association (ICMA) plans to help better facilitate sovereign debt restructurings. ICMA’s general counsel, Leland Goss, explains how

Muharrem Küçük Mustafa Yigit Örnek When international banks and financial institutions finance a project or provide acquisition financing, they need to acknowledge certain restrictions under the Turkish Commercial Code No 6102 (TCC) in respect of security granted to secure such financing. For any project or acquisition financing, the borrower itself is able to provide a corporate guarantee to the lenders. But there is a concern if a subsidiary company is required to provide a corporate guarantee in respect of the obligations of its parent company. According to article 202 of the TCC, a parent company cannot cause any loss to its subsidiary. Although abuse of control by the parent company does not render the relevant transaction void, the parent company is obliged to compensate the losses of the subsidiary within the same financial year or provide a method for compensation within the same financial year. If the parent company fails to compensate, the other shareholders or creditors of the subsidiary are entitled to commence proceedings against the parent company and the directors of the parent company for compensation of losses. Article 202 also applies if either the parent or the subsidiary is incorporated in Turkey.

Mian Muhammad Nazir The judgment of the Dubai Court of First Instance, in a case involving an ijara contract (lease contract), contemplates the UAE courts' level of familiarity with complex Islamic finance contract instruments. Though the court decision may be subject to appeal, but as it stands, it reveals an evidence of adequate judicial recognition for Islamic finance contracts. Although it is not the first case that recognises the application of principles of Shariah and Islamic contracts and instruments, the decision will nevertheless confirm the UAE legal and judicial systems' readiness to dispense justice and adjudicate civil and commercial disputes strictly in accordance with the terms and conditions of the underlying contracts and the governing law of such contracts.

Bumkyu Sung and Ik Hwan Cho of Kim & Chang explain the impact and future of South Korea’s law separating banks and securities firms

Clive Cunningham, Pat Horton and Nish Dissanayake of Herbert Smith Freehills explore the impact of the AIFM Directive on marketing alternative investment funds