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The Mexican Securities Law (Ley del Mercado de Valores) allows government entities to issue debt-denominated securities known as Certificados Bursátiles. Although the Mexican federal government has in the past issued debt securities, this mechanism has certainly not been a financing option for state governments or for municipalities. So far there has only been two issuances of Certificados Bursátiles of this kind registered with the Mexican Stock Exchange. One was made by the state government of Morelos for about $21 million, and the second by the city of Aguascalientes for about $9 million. Recently, Fitch Ratings has given the city of San Pedro Garza García an AAA rating for the issuance of Certificados Bursátiles up to $20 million. It is expected that these securities will be priced and placed this summer and, if successful, will become the third issuance of these kind of debt instruments in the Mexican securities market.

The Colombian Superintendency of Securities has recently defined new illegal, non-authorized and insecure practices in relation to publicly-traded companies, with the purpose of protecting the rights of minority shareholders, and of guaranteeing transparent decisions at general shareholders meetings (Resolution 0116, February 27 2002).

Recent amendments to the Audit Special Exceptions Law, a law relating to the Commercial Code, provide an alternative to Japan's existing corporate governance structure. The new governance structure, scheduled to take effect in April 2003, is not mandatory and only applies to companies categorized as "larger companies" which satisfy certain criteria.

With a view to bringing the regulatory regime of Hong Kong, which is fundamentally disclosure-based, more in line with its international counterparts and to assure the furtherance of investors' protection, the Securities and Futures Commission of Hong Kong (SFC) unveiled the Consultation Paper on the Securities and Futures (Stock Market) Rules in May 2002.

The Reserve Bank of New Zealand Bill, a new Bill aimed at strengthening the Reserve Bank of New Zealand's (New Zealand's Central Bank) powers of supervision and regulation of registered banks to bring them into line with international best practice was introduced on April 23 2002. The Reserve Bank first indicated that it was going to propose significant changes to its governing legislation in October 2000. This governing legislation is the Reserve Bank of New Zealand Act 1989, which sets out the functions and powers of the Reserve Bank and provides for a system of regulation and supervision of banks. The new Bill was introduced following consultation on the proposed amendments with interested parties and will have significant implications for both domestic and foreign-owned banks that do business in New Zealand.

Stricter rules on insider dealing in Italy have been introduced as part of significant amendments to the Regulation of the markets organized and managed by Borsa Italiana SpA, the Italian Stock Exchange. The amendments to the Regulation came into force on July 15 2002.

As part of Turkey's efforts to build a stronger economy and also as part of fulfilling its undertakings to the International Monetary Fund (IMF), parliament passed Law No 4749 on Public Finance and Regulation of Debt Management on March 28 2002.

Ed Greene of Cleary, Gottlieb, Steen & Hamilton calls for greater cooperation between Europe and the US to solve some of the problems afflicting world markets

Peugeot has closed a complex €1.5 billion ($1.49 billion) securitization of French and Spanish car loans using a Dutch special purpose vehicle (SPV), the biggest European car deal yet, involving three jurisdictions.

The International Primary Markets Association (IPMA) has warned that the EU's plans for greater transparency in its capital markets will encourage companies to list elsewhere. In a letter to the European Commission the association, which represents the views of over 60 international banks operating in the European capital markets, says that "third-country issuers will be driven from EU markets" if the obligations of the new directive are disproportionately burdensome.