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As a participating member state in the first group of countries to adopt the single currency in 1999, Portugal must ensure a smooth and effective transition to the euro in respect of the securities market.

A recent Court of Appeal decision (Russell McVeagh McKenzie Bartleet v Tower Corporation) provides a useful indication to New Zealand law firms of the judiciary's approach to Chinese walls in large firms.

Facing addressive competition on three fronts, French firms need to abandon their approach to stay in the front rank. Barbara Galli reports from Paris

Paris electronics company Framatome Connectors is buying its US competitor Berg Electronics, St Louis, for $1.85 billion. The deal will make Framatome the second–largest manufacturer of electronic connectors. Framatome will pay cash for Berg's shares and will also assume $400 million of debt. Framatome is being advised by New York law firm Davis Polk & Wardwell. The partners assisting on the transaction are John McCarthy Jr (corporate), Winthrop Conrad Jr (corporate), Paul Kingsley (corporate) and Patrick Bradford (antitrust).

Partners from Canadian law firms Fraser & Beatty and Milner Fenerty have voted in favour of a merger. As of October 1, the firms will continue business as Fraser Milner. The new firm, which will have offices in Alberta, Ontario and British Colombia, plans to offer a wider range of specialities. Both firms offer advice on all areas of business law but Milner Fenerty, which has offices in Alberta, has specific expertise in forestry, mining and oil and gas. Jeff Barnes, partner on the board at Fraser & Beatty in Toronto, says: "Milner Fenerty is very specialized and we could not grow this ourselves. The merger will give us presence in these major product markets."

US law firm White & Case has been hired by the Republic of Panama to represent it during the privatization of the state-owned integrated electric utility. The Instituto de Recursos Hidraulicos y de Electrificacion (IRHE) is to be divided into eight companies in a two-phase process. On September 10, the first phase was completed with the sale of 51% stakes in the three distribution companies. Spanish company Union Fenosa acquired 51% of EDE Metro-Oeste SA, which serves Panama City, for US$212 million. As part of this deal, Union Fenosa also received 51% of EDE Chiriqui SA, which serves an area close to the Costa Rica border. US utility firm Constellation Power, a subsidiary of Baltimore Gas & Electric Co, bid approximately US$90 million for a 51% stake in EDE Noreste SA. The deals are expected to complete within 60 days.

French/UK firm Salans Hertzfeld & Heilbronn will merge with New York's Christy & Viener on January 1 1999. Given that previous mergers have effectively been takeovers of small boutiques by much larger firms, it is the first transatlantic merger of equals. The combined firm will have 85 partners and 193 other qualified lawyers. The Paris office has a total of 103 lawyers, with 84 in New York and 31 lawyers in London. "The firm is a different paradigm to the largest firms," says Robert Starr, a partner in the London office of Salans Hertzfeld. "This merger is unique not only in being transatlantic but also in the character of the firm. We are not now a Paris-based firm nor a London-based firm, and we will not be a New York-based firm."

• Clifford Chance has recruited three new partners. Jason Glover will be based in London, while Pablo Bieger and José Antonio Cainzos join the Madrid office. Glover is a private equity specialist and he was formerly with Asian Infrastructure Fund Advisers. Bieger, a corporate finance specialist, joins from Garrigues & Andersen. He had left Clifford Chance for Arthur Andersen in 1996. Cainzos was head of the litigation department of Baker & McKenzie and he will hold the same position at Clifford Chance.

UK firms Herbert Smith and Freshfields have been hired to represent electric companies in a recent £2.7 billion ($4.38 billion) merger. Scottish Hydro-Electric, and Southern Electric announced their merger on Tuesday, September 1. The companies are the only two privatized regional electricity suppliers not to have been involved in a takeover or merger. Scottish Hydro-Electric, which operates chiefly as a generator, has the controlling stake, in line with its larger market capitalization. The merged groupwill be called Scottish and Southern Energy and will be based in Scotland.

Uncertainty in Irish legislation and case law has been unhelpful to the development of the Irish credit derivatives market and clarification is needed. By Judith Lawless of McCann FitzGerald, Dublin