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It has become commonly understood in many countries that widely-accepted standards for the operation and control of stock corporations listed on a stock exchange are needed in order to build and maintain investor confidence. To this end, an expert commission in Germany has recently introduced the Corporate Governance Code (available at www.corporate-governance-code.de/eng/kodex/index.html), which aims to make the German corporate governance system transparent and thereby promote the trust of international and national investors, customers, employees and the general public in the management and supervision of German stock corporations listed on a stock exchange. The Code describes existing legally-binding provisions as well as making recommendations for the conduct of such stock corporations. It focuses in particular on shareholders' rights, competence and duties of the management and the supervisory board, transparency in the corporation's field of activity and on the reporting and audit of annual financial statements. The latter aspect has received much attention recently due to a number of accounting scandals, in the US as well as in Germany, which have shown that "good and responsible governance", as the foreword to the Corporate Governance Code puts it, is of greater significance than ever.

The law of August 2 2002 on the supervision of the financial sector and financial services includes some substantial changes to Belgian legislation in connection with statutory liens and security interests in favour of financial intermediaries and clearing and settlement institutions.

Trade financiers have traditionally assumed they will be treated more favourably than other creditors by countries in financial difficulty. According to a study carried out by Torys, this is no-longer true. By Gilbert Samberg

Saudi Arabia's banking sector has traditionally been a closed market for the 10 banks licensed by the Saudi Arabian Monetary Agency (Sama). In 1999 the Kingdom opened its doors to Bahrain-based Gulf International Bank (GIB), which is 22.2% owned by Sama. In recent months, a number of banks headquartered in the GCC have applied for licences to operate in Saudi Arabia under the 1982 GCC Unified Economic Agreement, which has been implemented only on a piecemeal basis by the six GCC states over the past 20 years.

Underwriters as well as issuers should consider the effects of America's corporate governance clean-up. James Bartos and David Beveridge discuss the implications for banks of recent legislation

The new tax treatment of stock options and long-term incentives in Spain - to be in force from January 1 2003 - represents a commitment to better tax treatment and to a broader spread of benefits. The latest amendments to the Project Law are a partial modification of the Spanish Personal Income Tax (PIT) Law approved by the Spanish Lower House last October 3. They show the Spanish government's commitment to going beyond the situation created during the late 1990s which led to public questions about the practices of some managers of large Spanish companies. And the proposed reforms set out to provide a more reasonable, if still improvable, tax treatment for employees' stock purchase and stock option schemes.

As provided in Article 11 of the 2002 Finance Law, the Italian Ministry of the Economy and Finance has issued Decree No 217 (August 2 2002, coming into force on October 16 2002), introducing amendments to legislative decree No 153 of May 17 1999 on the subject of Italy's banking foundations.

Clients of Czech banks and other financial institutions in the Czech Republic will soon have a new forum for dispute resolution. After January 1 2003, disputes related to payments of up to €50,000 ($48,800) or electronic payment instruments will be decided by a new institution referred to as the Financial Arbitrator. The Arbitrator will be appointed by the lower house of the parliament for a fixed term of five years. The costs associated with the administration of the Arbitrator's office will be paid by the Czech National Bank.

The Thai government has made substantial progress in its liberalization of the power sector, which 10 years ago was still a government monopoly. This process has been guided by Nepo (an independent agency), Egat (a state enterprise under the prime minister's office) and PTT (a state enterprise under the Ministry of Industry). International project financings have been a feature of various key steps in the process.

In one of the most dramatic policy decisions to come out of North Korea, the Pyongyang government announced in late September the adoption of legislation to create a 132-square mile special administrative zone (SAZ). The zone will be in the north-western city of Shinuiju, just across the Yalu River from the Chinese city of Dandong. For a 50-year term, the SAZ will operate its own legislative, judiciary and administrative functions and have its own legal and economic system, relatively free of central government interference, and even issue its own passports. However, the SAZ will not have defence or military and diplomatic functions. Some observers have remarked that the SAZ is modeled on the Shenzen and Suzhou developments in China, and may represent the adoption of an open-door policy in North Korea, signaling an irreversible change in the country.