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On May 21 2002 a new set of rules for standardized information disclosure was introduced by China's central bank the People's Bank of China (PBoC) to improve commercial banks' transparency. The introduction of the Commercial Banks Information Disclosure Tentative Procedures, which contain 31 articles in total and take effect immediately following promulgation, is seen as a further step taken by the PBoC in its effort to reform the banking sector and to reinforce market discipline for commercial banks, which are under enormous pressure from foreign competitors especially after China's entry into the WTO.

The Australian Takeovers Panel recently declared a break fee to be unacceptable. The break fee was payable in shares, giving the offeror (Rexadis) the right to acquire a substantial interest in the target company (Ballarat Goldfields) if the shareholders rejected a proposal for Rexadis to buy assets of the company. The Rexadis proposal was one of three competing proposals for the future of Ballarat Goldfields. The Panel considered the break fee was likely to have a coercive effect on shareholders when considering the proposals. A rejection of the Rexadis proposal by shareholders could have diluted shareholdings. The Panel thought it was in the shareholders' best interests to be able to make an unfettered choice on the proposals.

When will China deliver on its promise as an industrial and financial centre of unprecedented size? Nick Ferguson talks to the lawyers hoping to profit from the country's reform

By Thomas Williams

China has shown its willingness to open markets to competition. But the country's insolvency laws need updating if lawmakers want foreign investment to last. By Campbell Korff and Xinhong Liu of Clifford Chance, Hong Kong

Europe's statistical body is the latest group to show its suspicion of structured finance, setting rules that treat sovereign securitizations differently from other types of state- guaranteed deals. Yannis Manuelides of Allen & Overy explains why Eurostat is wrong

In the wake of the Enron crisis, the Federal Banking Commission has toughened its stand on energy trading and energy traders. In particular, Swiss firms which intend to participate at the new European Energy Exchange (EEX) in Leipzig, may do so only if they have received a broker/dealer licence from the Federal Banking Commission.

Brazil is talking tough despite the problems of nearby Argentina. Ben Maiden finds out why local lawyers are sure recent reforms mean their nation will not suffer the same difficulties

New rules that open China's fund management and securities industries to foreign investment do not remove all barriers to overseas banks. Nicholas Howson and Lester Ross of Paul, Weiss, Rifkind, Wharton & Garrison report

In a month that saw the UK's FTSE 100 index fall to its lowest levels since 1997, Great Universal Stores' public sale of a 22.5% stake in clothing company Burberry was a welcome distraction for capital markets teams at Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer and Linklaters.