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Law firms from the UK, US and Hong Kong have advised on the first ever Chinese GDRs listed on the London Stock Exchange. Zhejiang Southeast Electric Power Company's dual listing on the London and Shanghai exchanges will also be China's largest B-share offering. The company's total market capitalization will be more than US$200 million.

US firm Kelley Drye & Warren has affiliated with an Indonesian firm, Soebagjo, Roosdiono, Jatim & Djarot.The Jakarta firm, which employs 25 lawyers, will complement Kelley Drye's Hong Kong office. Stephen Stein, a partner in New York, will be responsible for the Indonesian Practice Group, though the Hong Kong partners will have a significant role in overseeing the office. Foreign firms' activities in Indonesia are limited, forcing most to affiliate with local firms. Kelley Drye follows Baker & McKenzie, Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom and several other large international firms into Jakarta. US-qualified associate Gregory McMahon will be the first lawyer to move across from the Hong Kong office. "We expect McMahon will be there full-time soon, after which it depends on how business develops," says Stein. "It is probably going to be quite slow for a while, but the potential for growth is there—currency problems notwithstanding."

Ford Credit's asset-backed programme issuer Globaldrive, has completed its debut issue, a Dm1 billion (US$566 million) securitization of US originated dealer floorplan loans. Globaldrive is the first corporate securitization vehicle in Europe which will allow for the issue of separately rated notes backed by discrete asset pools from different countries.

The extent to which foreign debtors and foreign creditors are subject to the US Bankruptcy Code is one of the grey areas in this field of law. A recent case decided by a US bankruptcy court in Houston, Texas, In re Jacobo Xacur (96-48538), sheds some light on this troublesome area.

New provisions in Luxembourg on the merger of the capacities of debtor and creditor in one person (confusion) mean issuers are no longer forced to cancel their own debt after purchase. By Henri Wagner of Zeyen Beghin Feider/Loeff Claeys Verbeke, Luxembourg

Setting up a representative office is the first and indispensable step towards establishing a banking presence in China. Philip Gilligan and Steven Blayney of White & Case, Hong Kong, explain how

The success of the first Europe-wide electronic securities market owes much to the new possibilities afforded by EU investment services legislation. By Dirk Tirez, general counsel of Easdaq, Brussels

MeritaNordbanken, the bank to be formed from the recently announced merger of Finland's Merita Bank and Sweden's Nordbanken, will be the second largest in Scandinavia by value of assets. Only Sweden's Handelsbanken will be larger.

Price Waterhouse and Coopers & Lybrand's proposed merger will create an accountancy firm with worldwide revenues of US$13 billion, 135,000 employees and 8,500 partners. The move has led to talk of further mergers among the big six.

Measures introduced by securities regulators in Argentina will make it easier for foreign issuers to access the country’s emerging capital market. By Rodolfo Gerardo Papa of Cárdenas, Cassagne & Asociados, Buenos Aires