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Akiko Tomiyama On April 16 2013, the Financial Services Agency of Japan (FSA) submitted the Bill for Amendment of the Financial Instruments and Exchange Act, etc. to the ordinary Diet session. It was indicated that the main purpose of the bill is to put in place measures against insider trading and market fraud, measures against financial crises that originate from market disruption, and measures to strengthen the functions of the financial and capital markets and the financial industry in Japan. The bill includes amendments to many finance-related bills, including the Financial Instruments and Exchange Act, the Investment Trust and Investment Corporation Act, the Deposit Insurance Act, the Banking Act, the Insurance Business Act, and the Trust Business Act. The main purposes of this bill are the strengthening of insider trading regulations, the establishment of an orderly resolution regime for financial institutions, revisions to asset management regulations, the encouragement of the provision of capital by banks, and the encouragement of the robustness of Japanese Real Estate Investment Trust (J-Reit) structures. The strengthening of insider trading regulations was proposed following recent insider trading cases, such as when a listed company made a public offering and information was compromised by an employee of the lead managing underwriter and an investor who obtained such information engaged in insider trading. In particular, the disclosure of inside information and trading recommendations made by corporate insiders who have inside information will be regulated under new rules. In addition, the monetary penalty for violations committed by asset managers with respect to their client accounts will be raised.

In 2008, the government of the Macau Special Administrative Region (MSAR) started the revision of the Land Law (Law 6/80/M) after concluding: "Given the demands of various sectors of society … it appears that the Land Law, in force for more than 30 years, is no longer able to respond effectively to the current development of MSAR" ('Explanatory Memorandum of the Draft Law'). The draft was approved in general terms by the Legislative Assembly of Macau on February 5 2013.

In response to the 2007 eurozone and US debt crises, the Basel Committee on Banking Supervision in 2010 introduced Basel III with a view to regularising standards on bank capital adequacy and market liquidity risk. The unprecedented speed with which Basel III was introduced was an attempt to stem the growing dissatisfaction with how banks were regulating themselves and to regain market confidence. While the aims of Basel III can be lauded, criticism on its viability in regions not affected by the European and US debt crises brings to the fore questions as to whether such standards would have counter-productive results.

Carlos Fradique Mendez Cesar Rodriguez A positive investment cycle and the consolidation of the country's macroeconomic framework have underpinned Colombia's sustained growth over the last decade. This was reflected in the investment grade rating in 2011 and the further upgrade in April 2013. Despite the significant improvement in Colombia's economic fundamentals, some issues remain pending in the country's transport infrastructure. In response, the Colombian government has launched an ambitious public–private partnership (PPP) programme with an estimated investment of approximately $20 billion, which is generating an unprecedented demand on local financing sources and the need to adopt new approaches to project finance. Institutional investors, supranational and international financial institutions are likely to play a paramount role: traditional sources of banking finance are fairly limited given the dramatic increase in financing needs.

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

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.

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

Philippos Aristotelous In accordance with its commitment to its international lenders, Cyprus has made a number of changes to tax rates. With effect from January 1 2013 the corporate income tax rate has been increased from 10% to 12.5%. The rate of special defence contribution (SDC) on interest has also been increased, from 15% to 30%. The increase will take effect from the date of publication of the law in the official gazette, probably during May 2013. SDC tax is payable only by tax residents of Cyprus; non-resident individuals and companies are completely exempt, and interest on corporate financing or loan arrangements is subject to income tax rather than SDC tax.

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

Michael M Wiseman and Elizabeth T Davy of Sullivan & Cromwell explore the increasingly hostile US enforcement climate for financial institutions