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"It has become a self-fulfiling momentum as issuers try to take advantage of low interest rates and the recovery of the stock markets".

The Canadian Securities Administrators have adopted National Policy 46-201 (Escrow for Initial Public Offerings) setting out uniform terms of escrow applicable to IPOs when an issuer files its first prospectus in: (i) an initial distribution; (ii) a secondary offering (eg a corporate spin-off); or (iii) a distribution where no escrow has been previously imposed in connection with its existing business.

The Security by means of Movable Property Act 1993 commenced on May 7 1993 and regulates the legal consequences of a special notarial bond over movable property described in the notarial bond. The effect of registration of such a bond is that the bondholder is placed in the same position as a pledgee and acquires a so-called "real right" to the movable property described in the bond, which means that the rights to the bonded property are not affected, even where the bonded property is alienated to third parties. A real right is distinguishable from a personal right, in that a real right is enforceable against third parties and not just against the person(s) privy to the security arrangements (as is the case with the personal rights).

Canadian firms may be coping well with in the present economic climate but many in the legal market are still struggling to decide on a strategy. Tom Nicholson reports

Lawyers at firms throughout Asia are advising on a 17,000km submarine cable that will connect bandwidth technology between China, Hong Kong, Japan, Korea, Singapore, Taiwan and the Philippines. On completion the cable will be able to carry 90 million voice conversations simultaneously.

The Commission des opération de bourse (COB) will soon complete its radical shake-up of securities regulation for the French markets. The reforms were inspired and influenced by the globalization of markets and increased volatility of share prices. The COB has to an extent been forced to follow both the markets and SEC’s lead. However, as Edward Kamman of Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom in Paris explains, the French reforms have much to teach other regulators in the fields of present disclosure and communications restrictions during offerings

Allen & Overy has advised J P Morgan Securities on a euro 300 million ($260 million) synthetic issue of collateralized debt obligations (CDOs) by Robeco CSO III.

Clifford Chance has advised on Hong Kong's biggest ever merger. The merger of Bank of China with 10 financial institutions in Hong Kong required legal advice in 45 jurisdictions around the world. Clifford Chance claims the deal is unprecedented, not just in Hong Kong, but worldwide.

Shearman & Sterling's Singapore association with Stamford is proving fruitful once again. The joint venture advised advised Goldman Sachs and Citicorp as joint global co-coordinators, and Salomon Smith Barney, on SingTels' successful $2.29 billion global bond issue. The deal is the largest straight corporate bond issue out of Asia. The bonds are denominated in US dollars and euros with maturities of 10 years and 30 years.

The Takeover Panel’s ruling on WPP/Tempus may have been the death blow for material adverse change clauses in the UK, but what of the US? Richard Trobman and Nick Cline of Latham & Watkins, London, ask if the US authorities would have come to the same conclusion if they had been presented with WPP