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The Alliance of European Lawyers has added a Polish member, Consultor Limited, which has signed a cooperation agreement and will be known as Alliance Consultor. The French member of the six-firm Alliance, Jeantet & Associés, already has a Warsaw office, but there has been disagreement over its merger with Consultor and it is operating as a separate office despite the cooperation agreement. A Jeantet lawyer in one of the Alliance joint offices says: "It is a bit ridiculous but we all hope the merger will take place some time in May or June." There are practical reasons for the delay, according to Gérard Mazet, partner in Jeantet's Paris office. "Basically we have got problems with premises and with a few conflicts of interest and so for the time being they will remain separate."

Grimaldi & Clifford Chance has opened an office in Padua. This is the third office in Italy the firm has established since the association between Grimaldi e Associati and UK law firm Clifford Chance began in 1993. The office will initially have five lawyers led by two partners, Paolo Rulli and Gianandrea Rizzieri. Rulli has moved from the firm's Rome office and Rizzieri joins from local partnership Studio Rizzieri. Both specialize in corporate and international trade law, with Rizzieri providing experience in litigation and arbitration. Associates Federica Greggio and Susanna Rizzieri specialize in international transactions, contracts and litigation.

The Korean government has recognized that depositors’ interests must be safeguarded by the state. But improvements need to be made, argues Dong Won Ko of the Institute for Monetary & Economic Research, The Bank of Korea, Seoul

The European Commission has published its deliberations on antitrust and distribution in Europe, giving an opportunity for debate on the framework for a new policy for the next century. By Ivo Van Bael of Van Bael & Bellis, Brussels

A decision of the Colombian Constitutional Court, issued in August 1996, has blocked the ratification of a bilateral investment treaty entered into by Colombia and the UK in 1994 and approved by the Colombian Congress in late 1995. With the failure of a recent government initiative to overturn the constitutional basis for the court's decision, it now appears that the treaty has been shelved indefinitely.

The recent law implementing EU financial services policy in France has introduced ‘regulated markets’, ‘market enterprises’ and other new concepts. By Antoine Maffei of De Pardieu Brocas Maffei & Associés, Paris

The Court of First Instance recently delivered its judgment in WWF UK v Commission (T-105/95) in which it considered the Commission's decision to refuse the World Wildlife Fund (WWF) access to documents relating to its investigation into the Irish Mullaghmore project to build a visitors' centre in the Burren National Park in Ireland.

Privatization of mining group

In its February session, the Swiss Federal Banking Commission gave the green light for the first two foreign funds with special risks to be sold and marketed in Switzerland.

In the January 1997 briefing we noted that a parliamentary committee was expected to propose amendments to the Companies Act of1975, one of which would permit Swedish companies to repurchase their own shares. This proposal has now been published (SOU 1997: 22).