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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.

The Securities and Exchange Law provides that continuing financial disclosure of companies to the investing public must be reported on a consolidated and non-consolidated basis. In contrast, the Commercial Code provides that financial disclosure to shareholders must be prepared on a non-consolidated basis and the Corporate Tax Law provides that corporate tax must be calculated on a non-consolidated basis.

Market manipulation, which involves deception and dishonesty, has long been regarded as a serious crime in Hong Kong. But despite a maximum penalty of two years' imprisonment, it appears there are no sentencing guidelines relating to it.

The Prague stock exchange has been given a much-needed boost with the listing of Austria's oldest commercial and savings bank on the Czech market.

Regulators have already released proposals on implementing the prospectus directive, though the directive itself is not yet ready.

Money from the EU to improve central Europe's broken-down infrastructure will make less difference than lawyers might hope. Tom Williams reports

The novel structure of a joint venture between Lehman Brothers and Woori Finance Holdings, to buy up to $8.4 billion of non-performing loans (NPL) in Korea, has established a model for future distressed asset deals in Asia.

Japanese banks are preparing to use synthetic collateralized loan obligations to obtain capital relief after the largest reported deal of this type won regulatory approval and closed at the end of September.