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On April 29 1999, the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) proposed once again rule amendments and a new proposed rule governing the custody of mutual fund assets outside the US. At the same time, it extended the date for complying with the amendments to the foreign custody rules until May 1 2000. The proposed new rule would govern the use of foreign securities depositories and in recognition that the previous standard of care was unworkable, the proposal drops the requirement that a fund’s board, adviser or domestic custodian find that fund assets will be subject to reasonable care if held by a foreign depository.

Europe-Draft ordinance bans cold calling

Middle East & Africa-Recovery of loan Interest

Swiss pharmaceuticals company Novartis is selling its Wasa crispbread unit to Italy’s Barilla Alimentare. The Italian food company is paying Sfr475 million ($315 million) including debt. The deal is part of Novartis’s move to refocus its consumer health division.

A consortium including British Gas and Shell has bought a $1 billion controlling stake (53%) in Gas de Sao Paulo, Brazil’s largest natural gas distributor*. This was the Brazilian government’s first privatization since the devaluation of the real in January. Gas de Sao Paulo serves around 300,000 mainly industrial customers in Sao Paulo, Brazil’s most populous state. The consortium’s bid was chosen in preference to several rival consortia, including one led by Enron and Agip of Italy.

The UK’s General Electric Company (GEC) is buying Fore Systems, a Pittsburgh-based Internet equipment supplier. GEC recently agreed to sell its defence business to British Aerospace and is now concentrating on building up its telecoms and Internet capabilities. This acquisition follows GEC’s purchase of US telecoms company, Reltec.

Serge Durox of Coudert Frères, Paris, assesses the impact of new regulations on private placements and identifies the outstanding issues for prospective borrowers

Latin America-Brazilian natural gas company sold at a premium of 119%

The Pepsi Bottling Group has issued 100 million common stock shares in an initial public offering worth $2.2 billion. The New York-based group manufactures and distributes Pepsi-Cola drinks.

Deutsche Telekom and Telecom Italia are to form the world’s second largest telecommunications company in what they describe as a merger of equals. The merger will be achieved through a stock swap with Deutsche Telekom shareholders owning 57% of the new company. The German government is selling part of its 72% stake in Deutsche Telekom and will hold a 40% stake in the merged company.