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Two recent cases have considered the scope of two types of provision commonly found in loan agreements, bond and other debt instruments.

The Commission has proposed a Directive to establish a clear regulatory framework for the distance-selling of financial services within the single market.

On October 1 1998, the Spanish parliament passed a law amending the Securities' Market Law and modifying various other aspects of Spanish securities market-related laws. Among the main features of this new law are the following:

Under a government decree (finance ministry, April 13 1998) a commission has been created to prepare a report on the status of Portuguese international tax laws. The report will:

Banking confidentiality in Poland is regulated by the Banking Act of 1997. Generally it is based on the rather restrictive French model, however, the legislators have used their own construction in the wording of the legislation. Polish confidentiality regulations are within the bounds of the EU's legal framework and the requirements set for OECD members.

Under the German Banking Act, banks and financial services institutions are obliged to have an appropriate amount of own funds to meet their obligations to their creditors. The various risks arising from their business must be recorded in their trading book and in their banking book, weighted and backed by own funds. The rules as to how this should be done were announced by the German Federal Banking Supervisory Office (BAKred) in October 1997 in its Changes and Supplements to the Principles Concerning the Capital and Liquidity of Institutions which, for the most part, came into effect on October 1 1998. The essential item is the new Principle I which regulates capital requirements for market risks (foreign currency risks, commodity risks and position risks from trading book transactions) and counterparty risks (credit risks).

A government bill on amending the Finnish Act on the Book-Entry Securities System, prepared by the ministry of finance, was given to parliament in September. The bill pays particular attention to the international relations established between securities depositories and to the handling of foreign securities in the Finnish book-entry securities system. In addition, the provisions governing the entering of foreign securities into the Finnish book-entry securities system have been specified in the bill.

US law firm White & Case and Dutch firm De Brauw Blackstone Westbroek have advised Royal Ahold on its US$2.3 billion global offering. The offering involved listings on the Dutch AEX Stock Exchange, the Swiss Stock Exchange and the New York Stock Exchange. The transaction included 51,750,000 shares, also issued as American Depositary Receipts (ADRs), and Fls 1.495 billion (US$817 million) convertible subordinated notes due 2003, also issued in the form of ADRs. It was one of the first offerings into the US to take account of the euro due to the maturity of the convertible notes being reached in 2003. The offering is intended to help finance the recent purchase by Ahold of Giant Food.

The slump in issuance since October 1997 has affected all firms with Asian equities practices with the biggest offerings bringing more comfort to US rather than UK firms. Nick Ferguson reports

Lex Mundi, the international association of law firms, has decided to change its policy of excluding firms in New York, London, Washington DC, California, Texas and Illinois. It is now seeking one of the leading firms in each location to join its members. Washington DC's Steptoe & Johnson LLP is the first firm to take advantage of Lex Mundi's policy change to join the international alliance.