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UK firm Watson Farley & Williams is to acquire the Singapore office of Sinclair Roche & Temperley for what has been described as "a substantial sum of money". The agreement is effective from September 1 1998. The move comes just a few months after Sinclair Roche & Temperley agreed an alliance with Singapore firm Colin Ng & Partners, intended to operate alongside its Singapore office.

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.

The US$1.52 billion financing for the expansion and modernization of Permex' Cadereyta Refinery in Mexico has been closed, the largest project financing to be completed in Latin America. Funding involves a US$370.3 million bond offering, US$804.8 million loans from commercial banks and US$346 million loans from Kreditanstalt fur Wiederafbau. The project sponsors are SK Engineering and Construction, from Korea, Siemens, from Germany, and Grupo Tribasa, from Mexico.

The changeover to the Euro will have a substantial impact on European price sources. The Fibor (Frankfurt Interbank Offered Rate), for example, will vanish from January 1 1999. On that date, one to 12 month Fibor rates will be replaced by one to 12 month Euribor rates (Euro Interbank Offered Rate), and the Fibor overnight rate will be replaced by the Eonia rate (Euro Overnight Index Average). Euribor and Eonia rates will be calculated on a daily basis using quotes from a maximum of 64 European banks, 12 of which are domiciled in Germany.

Can the resolution of future sovereign debt crises be eased by changes in the legal documents that evidence these obligations? In the first of a series of three articles, Lee C Buchheit of Cleary, Gottlieb, Steen & Hamilton, New York considers the sharing clause

Paragon has completed a £300 million (US$498 million) securitization of a portfolio of mixed consumer loans, including car loans, timeshare loans and stocking finance agreements. It is a first for Paragon, traditionally a securitizer of mortgages. The floating rate notes were issued through a special purpose vehicle, Finance for People (No. 3). JP Morgan acted as lead manager and Morgan Guaranty Trust Company of New York as trustee. Slaughter and May advised Paragon and Finance for People, with a team led by corporate partners Chris Smith and Andrew McLean. Also involved on the issuer's side are Tods Murray, providing Scots law advice and L'Estrange & Brett providing Irish law advice.

Quebec’s new Bill 181 amends the Civil Code to require registration of secured transactions. It has important implications for securitization. By Sterling Dietze of Stikeman, Elliott, Montreal

A non-US court applying the non-US law governing a swap contract may not recognize a restraining notice served by a creditor as a defence to payment. By Mark P Zimmett from the Law Offices of Mark P Zimmett, New York

Article 1, paragraph 1 of Legislative Decree No. 239 of April 1 1996, containing provisions aimed at amending the financial treatment of interest and other capital gains deriving from securities and similar bonds, as amended by Article 12, paragraph 3 of Legislative Decree No. 461 of November 11 1997, will enter into force on July 1 1998. It provides that the 12.5% withholding tax under Article 26, paragraph 1 of the Decree of the President of the Republic No. 600 of September 29 1973 will not be applied to interest and other capital gains deriving from securities and similar bonds issued in Italy by certain entities to the extent that:

Together with the Federal Stock Exchange Act, of which the second part entered into force in January 1998, Article 161bis of the Swiss Criminal Code has been amended. Under this provision, any person who substantially influences the price of stock traded on the Swiss stock exchange with the intention of enriching him or herself or a third party, will be punished by imprisonment or a fine.