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In June the Minister for Economic Affairs tabled a proposal in parliament making it possible to merge (or cooperate through a holding company) between banks organized as savings institutions and mortgage credit institutions organized as member associations. On the same day BG Bank and Realkredit Danmark published their intention to do exactly that. Banks organized under the rules governing BG Bank until now have been subject to rules limiting shareholders' voting rights (also in a holding company controlling a bank organized as a savings institution company). The limitation of shareholders' voting rights may now be abolished by the shareholders. The abolition may pave the way for a mortgage credit association holding the majority of votes in a merged entity — as is required by law.

In a world of global finance and capital flows, the extra-territorial reach of national securities laws needs to be clearly defined. In the US, this is not the case. The absence of legislative guidelines has spawned considerable litigation.

The Supreme Court of Mexico is reviewing a controversy, Contradiccion de tesis 2/98 y 11/98, that challenges the enforceability of arrangements under which Mexican banks have imposed charges for interest on unpaid interest. The resolution of this matter will affect the many legal disputes which arose in 1995 after the Mexican peso devaluation and the ensuing spike in interest rates (up to 100%) and could have serious financial consequences for an already troubled banking sector.

The Monetary Authority of Singapore has accepted the recommendations of the Financial Sector Review Group for new disclosure policies for banks, to make Singapore banks more transparent and accountable while having little impact on their balance sheets. The recommendations are expected to be implemented within the financial year, and include:

Settlement systems for national and cross-border payments carry risks relating to the insolvency of participants. A new legal basis for netting systems in the EU provides comfort. By Marianne Walsh and Markus Wellinger of Van Bael & Bellis, Brussels

Clifford Chance has completed its first SEC registered flotation in the US, as adviser to STET Mobile Holding (the selling shareholder) and to STET Hellas Telecommunications, one of the two GSM mobile telecom operators in Greece. The sale was of 12.1 million ordinary shares of STET Hellas in the form of American Depositary Receipts, registered with the SEC and quoted on the Nasdaq stock exchange, and of Dutch Depositary Shares listed on the Amsterdam stock exchange. The deal is valued at US$327 million. Clifford Chance's team included partners Rick Ely (US group) and Tim Schwarz (telecommunications) in London, and Frank Graaf in Amsterdam.

Sakhalin Energy Investment Company, a Bermuda company owned by Marathon Oil Company, Mitsui & Co, Shell Petroleum and Mitsubishi Corporation has entered a production sharing agreement with the Russian Federation. The agreement gives Sakhalin the right to develop the Piltun-Astokhskoye oil and gas field and the Lunskoye gas field, located offshore Sakhalin Island, for 25 years. The cost of the financing of the first phase of the development of the Piltun-Astokhskoye field is approximately US$733 million, with US$385 million in equity and US$348 million in loans from the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD), the Overseas Private Investment Corporation (OPIC), and the Export-Import Bank of Japan (J-EXIM). Each of the lenders will provide US$116 million. In-house counsel from Sakhalin (Larry Zielke, Scott Zander and Alexander Golubnichy), from Shell (Robert Pritt) and from Marathon Oil (Jim Murphy, Rick Kolencik and David Feldwisch) worked on the deal. Coudert Brothers represented Sachalin, with partners Peter O'Driscoll (project finance) and John Sheedy (Russian law and project finance) leading the team from London and New York.

UK firms have traditionally led the development of top tier international legal practices. Linklaters’ European merger may speed up the race for global dominance. Nick Ferguson reports

New York-based LeBoeuf Lamb Greene & MacRae has announced the opening of two new foreign offices, in Paris and Sao Paulo. In Paris, LeBoeuf has taken over the French practice of Donovan Leisure Newton & Irvine. Donovan has been struggling for survival since Californian rival Orrick Herrington & Sutcliffe poached two-thirds of its lawyers in April, after an unsuccessful attempt to merge. James Johnson, managing partner of LeBoeuf's London office comments: "Donovan's disruption provided us with a great opportunity to get a fine office, already familiar with an American firm, and lawyers which many of us already knew." Former Donovan partners René de Monseignat, Alain de Foucaud and Reid Feldman have been made partners in LeBoeuf, with Laurent Moury and Olivier Laude joining as counsel. US partner Douglas Hawes will move to Paris to organize the integration of the office into LeBoeuf's international network. The office will also have eight associates and it will maintain its specialization in the pharmaceutical and biotechnology industries. Deputy managing partner of the office, Alain de Foucaud, explains: "LeBoeuf is an important firm with a solid reputation in the US, and was willing to expand across Europe and internationally. The team of avocats has worked together for the past three years and we wanted to keep it intact and preserve our culture. It is easier this way because there are fewer changes both for the clients and for our lawyers." In Sao Paulo, local firm Tavares Guerreiro Advogados has affiliated with LeBoeuf.

China has launched a programme of reforms to the regulation of the financial sector. The insurance industry is already open to foreign competition, most in the form of joint ventures. By Jingzhou Tao of Coudert Brothers, Beijing