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The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) has signaled that a degree of confidence in Russian industry may be returning by signing its largest loan to a Russian company since 1993. If the signals are correct, law firms will want to be well placed to take advantage of the returning work. For this transaction, White & Case and Allen & Overy have secured the mandates.

Clyde & Co appoints new partners

CMS Cameron McKenna has announced that it is to include a Swiss firm in its European alliance. Von Erlach Klainguti Stettler Wille is to join the group in June and will adopt the CMS moniker.

At a time when Nasdaq stalwarts such as Microsoft, Lycos and Novell tumbled to record lows, May was a brave month to launch high-tech IPOs. Especially for issuers in Asia's turbulent markets. But while others such as Caripac.com and ColbyNet shelved their IPOs, a handful of companies ploughed on.

New capital market initiative launched The New Capital Market (NCM) is an initiative by the New Zealand Stock Exchange designed primarily to assist small and medium-sized companies in raising capital for new growth-oriented businesses. It is envisaged that strong incentives – in particular simplified disclosure and reduced listing and brokerage fees – will encourage companies to enter the NCM and eventually graduate to full listing on the main board of the stock exchange.

Regulators in Singapore and the US have joined forces to crack down on fraud. The SEC and the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) will both work with the Singapore Monetary Authority (MAS) on possible violations of securities and futures rules.

Linklaters completes series of central European bond issues

European Energy Exchange and the Swiss Stock Exchange Act With the deregulation of the European energy markets, prices for energy have become increasingly volatile. This has led power companies to use financial instruments to offset price risks (hedging). While energy exchanges in the Netherlands and Scandinavia have already emerged, the evolution of the European Energy Exchange (EEX) is a fairly recent development.

New Commercial Companies Code to be enacted Effective January 2001, enactment of Poland's new Commercial Companies Code is expected. The bill introduces new regulations pertaining to, among other things, limited liability companies and joint stock companies — the two vehicles for foreign investments.

EU directive on taxation of savings interest The proposed EU directive on the taxation of savings interest is now stalled by disagreements between the different EU member states over the desirability of imposing withholding tax on non-resident investors in the absence of information exchanges between their tax authorities. The proposal has attracted much criticism from financial institutions and the UK government, which has threatened to veto its adoption in its current form. EU government heads and finance ministers are, however, optimistic that a planned meeting in Brussels in June will result in a consensus being reached.