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A recent Hong Kong case, Rudolph Robinson Steel v Nissho Iwai Hong Kong & Anor [1998], demonstrates that the parties to a letter of credit must show a clear intention if the presentation of a future document is to constitute a binding arrangement under the letter of credit.

New regulations on netting agreements governing financial transactions related to derivative instruments have been passed as an additional provision to a law customarily enacted at the same time as the approval of the budget for the following year. That law, which came into force on January 1 1998, added a new section to a 1994 law on the Second Banking Directive.

Dennis Block and Bruce Zirinsky, former partners of Weil Gotshal & Manges in New York, have made independent moves to Cadwalader Wickersham & Taft. Shortly after, partner Jonathan Hoff also followed. Block, a corporate, M&A, and securities litigation specialist, was one of Weil Gotshal's highest earners with estimated billings of US$3 million a year. He announced his plans to leave the firm three months ago and had been considering his next move. It is understood he was unhappy with the increasingly international focus of Weil Gotshal, particularly with the opening of its European offices. However Block says: "I had a problem of philosophy with one of the partners. We had a different management style and view and that is my main reason for moving."

Wilde Sapte, the UK firm that intended to link with Arthur Andersen, is encountering further problems after the failure of its merger in June. Lawyers are continuing to leave, including Paris partner Thomas McDonald and assistant Matthieu de Varax. The New York office has closed and the resident partner Diarmuid Brennan and his assistant have left. McDonald, who specializes in asset finance, is to join White & Case's Paris office with two assistants. De Varax is moving to Simmons & Simmons' Paris office with two other lawyers. He will be made up to partner. The moves leave the Paris office with two remaining partners.

The Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) has announced that share buybacks will be made legal by the fourth quarter of 1998, following feedback from industry bodies and financial market participants. Companies will be permitted to repurchase shares on the market in round lots out of distributable profits at any time within the period mandated by shareholders. The proposed legislation, which will complement the provisions permitting capital reduction in the Singapore Companies Act, will provide appropriate safeguards to ensure that creditors' interests are preserved and to minimize abuse, while providing sufficient flexibility to companies.

US natural gas and electricity company Enron is buying UK water utility Wessex Water. The value of the transaction is £1.4 billion (US$2.3 billion). Advising Enron is UK firm Freshfields, London. The team of lawyers is headed by partners Edward Brahm (corporate), Mark Rawlinson (corporate) and Deidre Trapp (competition).

With an ambitious privatization programme and a thriving economy, Finland’s lawyers welcome outside interest in their country’s quiet success. Nick Ferguson reports from Helsinki

The recent merger of the German Futures Exchange DTB (Deutsche Terminbörse) and the Swiss Futures Exchange SOFFEX (Swiss Options and Financial Futures Exchange) created EUREX (European Exchange) as a single platform for pan-European trading and clearing of standardized futures and options under harmonized rules. EUREX is a fully electronic exchange based in Frankfurt and Zurich, with access points in Amsterdam, Chicago, London and Paris (and future access points in Helsinki, Madrid and New York).

German firm Hengeler Mueller Weitzel Wirtz has put together the innovative system that will clear the majority of euro transactions once the single European currency is introduced. Despite claims that it was impossible to produce a multilateral cross-border netting system whose rights and obligations would be upheld in the various jurisdictions in insolvency situations, the new Single Obligation structure, which provides the basis for the EBA clearing system, meets all criteria and has won acclaim from all participating countries.

US telecommunications company AT&T and British Telecommunications (BT) are embarking on a joint venture which is expected to make US$11 billion in annual revenue. The companies aim to increase their presence in the multinational telecoms market. Advising AT&T is Wachtell Lipton Rosen & Katz, New York. The team of lawyers includes partners Steven Rosenblum (corporate), Richard Katcher (corporate), Stephanie Seligman (corporate), Adrienne Atkinson (corporate), Peter Canellos (tax), Jodi Schwartz (tax) and Ilene Gotts (antitrust).