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The Federal Act on Money Laundering which came into force in 1998 places several obligations of due diligence (that is, identification of the contracting party, verification of beneficial owner, clarification of suspicious transactions and so on) on financial intermediaries. It applies to all financial intermediaries whether those already supervised by special legislation (such as the banking sector) or those in the non-banking sector, which were in 1998 not yet subject to any special supervision. In the non-banking sector the Act applies to all persons who, on a professional basis, accept, hold in deposit or assist in the investment or transfer of assets belonging to third parties.

On September 2 the Irish Competition Authority announced plans to conduct a study of competition in banking services in Ireland. The Authority has the power to study and analyze any practice or method of competition affecting the supply of goods or the provision of services or any other matter relating to competition pursuant to the Competition Act 2002. The Authority has previously investigated sectors such as bus and rail passenger transport and licensed publicans. It is now investigating the professions.

Cleary Gottlieb Steen & Hamilton and Clifford Chance have advised on one of the largest project financings to close in Germany.

South Korea's competition watchdog has said some of the country's largest companies could have to sell shareholdings worth $2.9 billion or risk losing their voting rights on the stakes. The Fair Trade Commission has accused the Korean conglomerates (chaebols) of violating Korean laws aimed at limiting the size of companies.

By Michael Evans

US-style exchange offers are catching on in the Eurobond market. James Cole of Shearman & Sterling explains how they are carried out

David Deck of Shearman & Sterling on why the peculiarities of Japan’s rent laws make real estate-backed deals tricky

Stefan van Rossum of Van Doorne explains why Dutch banking reforms will mean restructuring debt programmes that use a Netherlands-based vehicle

The New Zealand general election was held on July 27. Contrary to early predictions, the incumbent Labour government did not win enough seats in the House of Representatives to have a clear majority. Labour (52 seats) and the Progressive Coalition (two seats) won 54 seats between them in the 120 seat House and opted to form a minority government, relying on a formal agreement with United Future New Zealand (eight seats) to support them on matters of confidence and supply. Labour leader Helen Clark will enter her second three-year term as prime minister and the majority of cabinet ministers will retain their pre-election portfolios. Despite Labour winning only a minority of seats in the House, it is likely that the government will continue with its pre-election monetary, banking and securities markets and institutions policy.

In July 2002 the pan-European exchange virt-x announced the introduction of a central counterparty (CCP) for spring 2003. With the interposition of the CCP between the parties trading on virt-x, clearing as a new element will be introduced after the trading (buying and selling of securities) and before the settlement (delivery and payment of securities in fulfilment of the contractual obligations resulting from trading).