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The first German public to private leveraged buyout under the country's new takeover laws has been structured, testing the new regime. Allen & Overy, Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer, Hengeler Mueller and Shearman & Sterling have each been involved in the legal work on the deal, in which CIBC World Markets helped finance the acquisition of Gardena Holding by Green Holding, a new company established by Industri Kapital 2000 Limited.

To lose one managing partner may be regarded as a misfortune. But Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer's loss of two might seem to some like carelessness. To others, with a more sensible frame of mind, it may appear as a coincidence. In response to media reports in the UK Freshfields is keen to dismiss talk of a management shake-up within its Asian network after the announcement that the managing partners of two of its biggest offices will soon be stepping down. Charles Stevens, the present managing partner of the Tokyo office, plans to retire in the autumn after five years with Freshfields and, in a separate move, Roger Dyer will be replaced in Singapore by David Simpson.

Derivatives specialists have been trying hard to defend their business in the wake of the collapse of Enron. At its annual general meeting the International Swaps and Derivatives Association (ISDA) went as far as issuing a detailed rebuttal of claims that the market needs tighter regulation. "The market in the end exercised the ultimate sanction over [Enron]" its release asserts. But, try as they might, derivatives specialists cannot shake off all of the blame for the scandal. Now lawyers, too, have begun to suggest the markets may not be whiter than white. Though Enron's chief crime was to lie about how much it was really making, the company's collapse hides a quirk of the derivatives market that could bring down another organization if it goes unnoticed.

The UK treasury has stated that proposals to change rules that allow investors to defer tax payments on hedge funds earnings are at a very early stage after criticism of a recent consultation paper. The report on offshore funds states that British residents should pay tax on overseas investments as they would with UK-based investments. The report goes on to suggest that investors should pay tax on an annual basis rather than when they close out their position.

China has announced its intention to relax the strict rules governing the operation of foreign law firms. In its latest round of licences, issued to five Hong Kong firms, Deacons has become the first partnership to be awarded a licence to open a second office in mainland China. The Ministry of Justice has given Deacons the go-ahead to set up in Beijing, eight years after the firm opened its first office in Guangzhou. It is expected that the next round of licences will extend the opportunity to open second offices to foreign firms, many of which had previously been forced to make a difficult choice between opening in Shanghai or Beijing.

In this final article in a series of three, Philip Gilligan and Alastair Timblick of Lovells consider the routes a distressed bank may take to survive

With a firm commitment to renovation, Vietnam is set to strengthen its banking industry. Tony Foster, of Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer, Hanoi, explains the latest changes

Significant legislation in Mexico sets out to protect the process of competition, through the prevention and elimination of monopolies and monopolistic practices and any other restraints of trade. It is applicable to all economic participants involved in the Mexican economy and commercial banks, financial institutions and foreign corporations should be aware that some commercial practices, formerly tolerated in Mexico, might now be illegal under these rules and regulations. The legislation was first enacted on December 24 1992 in the form of the Mexican Antitrust Act (Ley Federal de Competencia Económica, the MAA). Additional procedural regulations were published on March 1998, with the enactment of the Regulations to the Mexican Antitrust Act (Reglamento de la Ley de Competencia Económica, the RMAA).

Canada's courts have recently introduced new uncertainties to the country's mergers and acquisitions regime with decisions regarding the acquisition (by way of a plan of arrangement) of Pacifica Papers by Norske Skog Canada Limited. While almost 74% of Pacifica's shareholders voted in favour of the arrangement, the transaction was opposed by two minority shareholders (the dissident shareholders), which together held 20% of the shares.

Brazilian financial institutions can now enter into credit derivative agreements to transfer risks relating to credits to each other. These credits may be the result of loans, financing or lease contracts, securities, guarantees, credit derivatives or other financial or commercial contracts implying credit risks, negotiated on the domestic market. The financial institutions must make a commitment to keeping a technically-capable manager responsible for the credit derivatives before the Central Bank of Brazil. This comes about as a result of the Central Bank enacting Circular 3.106 regulating credit derivative transactions on April 10 2002. This had previously been authorized by the National Monetary Council's Resolution 2.933 of February 28 2002.