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Recent developments in Spanish company law will favour access by Spanish companies to new financial mechanisms. One of these developments relates to the possibility for Spanish companies — previously not recognized by law — to issue redeemable shares (acciones rescatables), as an instrument through which the company may obtain additional funds for a limited time. This type of share represents an intermediate between fixed-income and variable-income securities. The main features of this new regime are as follows:

The Portuguese Capital Markets Commission has enacted a regulation determining the terms and conditions for the direct listing of foreign securities on the Portuguese Stock Exchange.

On July 1 1998 Commissione Nazionale per le Società e la Borsa (CONSOB) approved Resolution No. 11522 introducing new rules for intermediaries. The rules describe the procedure to be followed by an EU investment company to obtain authorization from the Italian authorities to offer in Italy services not admitted to mutual recognition.

On October 12 1998, Deutsche Börse began step two of its electronic trading system: Xetra Release 3. All of the 2,000 or so German and foreign stocks listed on the Frankfurt Stock Exchange as well as 360 bonds and 28 equity warrants may now be traded electronically. British securities are excluded from trading on Xetra because all market participants of Deutsche Börse may trade British securities on the London Stock Exchange by means of its electronic trading system SETS from January 1999.

The ministry of finance submitted a government bill on amending the Finnish Securities Market Act to parliament in October 1998.

As consolidation in the Swiss legal market continues, lawyers are divided over the need to look beyond national boundaries. Stephen Mulrenan reports from Zurich and Geneva

US law firm Orrick, Herrington & Sutcliffe acted as US legal advisers and US tax advisers to Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA) on the launch of its $2 billion 10-year global bond. Partners Christopher Moore and Carl Lyon led the team for Orrick Herrington. The TVA had planned to raise $1 billion, but poor US employment figures issued early on launch day led to strong bond trading and encouraged the TVA to increase the size of the issue. Proceeds from the bond issue will be used to help repay debt owed by the TVA to the US Treasury. In October, the TVA gained the approval of Congress to raise $3.2 billion in Federal Financing Bank (FFB) debt. The new issue is expected to be listed on the New York, Singapore, Hong Kong and Luxembourg stock exchanges.

Oryx Energy and Kerr-McGee have announced plans to merge in a deal worth $4 billion. The combined company will be the fourth largest oil exploration and production company in the US. It will have the equivalent of one billion barrels of oil reserves in oil and gas and an enterprise value of $6 billion. The Kerr-McGee/Oryx merger will consist of a tax free pooling of assets including debt and stock. Oryx shareholders will receive Kerr-McGee stock valued at about $1.8 billion. Kerr-McGee will assume about $1.3 billion of Oryx debt. The new company will be called Kerr-McGee.

US firms Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom, Cravath, Swaine & Moore, and Baker & Botts advised on international energy company Conoco's initial public offering, valued at about $4.2 billion. The offering consisted of Class A common stock of Conoco. 191,456,427 shares were offered at $23 a share. 172,456,427 of the shares were offered initially in the US and Canada. The Houston office of Baker & Botts and the New York office of Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom advised Conoco. The Baker & Botts team was led by corporate partners Walter Smith, Michael Watson, David Kirkland Jr, and partners James Raborn (employee benefits) and William Griffith (tax).

US firm Shaw Pittman Potts & Trowbridge has opened a London office. The office plans to take advantage of a gap it has identified in the London market for specialist advice in the negotiation and structuring of technology transactions and outsourcing. The firm, which already has 100 attorneys in the US practising technology, decided to expand its practice into Europe to meet the needs of its existing UK and US clients and to attract new clients. Paul Mickey, managing partner of Shaw Pittman, explains: "London is the centre for financial transactions in Europe. The types of institutions with technology needs are clustered here."