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The International Bar Association's Council has passed a resolution on multidisciplinary practices (MDPs), its first acknowledgment that the joining of legal and accountancy practices is inevitable. The resolution calls on national regulators, including authorities which promote trade in services, to establish rules on MDPs to protect both practitioners and clients. Such rules should include measures to protect lawyers' independence and to prevent MDPs from representing conflicting interests. Client privilege and confidentiality should also be safeguarded.

For some years money laundering prevention measures of considerable effectiveness have applied to banks in Switzerland. These measures did not, however, cover the rest of the financial sector, and as a result the regulatory framework had large gaps. One of these was filled on April 1 1998 when the Federal Statute for the Combating of Money Laundering entered into force. It extends the standard of care exacted in the banking sector to financial intermediaries operating in the non-banking sector. If an attorney-at-law chooses to act as a financial intermediary within the meaning of the statute, he or she is fully subject to its regulatory requirements and may not, in particular, invoke professional secrecy if requested to disclose details of his or her financial activities.

In an attempt to attract more investors to join the Cyprus Stock Exchange (CSE), the income tax law has been amended to offer substantial tax incentives. The incentives aim to attract both offshore and local organizations to invest in the CSE as well as private companies.

In connection with the financial and political crises that swept Russia in August and September, the Russian government has adopted certain extraordinary measures, including the restructuring of the state's obligations under widely-held debt securities, and a moratorium on repayment of certain other hard currency debts. Creditor losses as a result of these measures are potentially enormous; by some estimates, in the hundreds of billions of dollars. Among other effects, the new measures have precipitated the effective collapse of the Russian banking system. From a legal perspective, the imposition of the measures has raised a host of issues, including the effective remedies available to bond creditors and the status of private debtor obligations in view of the moratorium.

Opportunities exist within the Arabian Gulf states for equity investment in large projects. But the creation of bankable project structures requires effective security over project assets. By Martin Amison of Trowers & Hamlins, London

UK firms Herbert Smith and Freshfields have been hired to represent electric companies in a recent £2.7 billion ($4.38 billion) merger. Scottish Hydro-Electric, and Southern Electric announced their merger on Tuesday, September 1. The companies are the only two privatized regional electricity suppliers not to have been involved in a takeover or merger. Scottish Hydro-Electric, which operates chiefly as a generator, has the controlling stake, in line with its larger market capitalization. The merged groupwill be called Scottish and Southern Energy and will be based in Scotland.

Though the country’s equitization process in theory dates to 1987, Vietnam is only now passing some of the necessary framework legislation. The process should begin to accelerate. By Damian Clowes and Eric Sedlak of Deacons Graham & James, Ho Chi Minh City and Singapore

The Pünder group, a cooperation of European law firms, will be dissolved on December 31 1998. The remaining firms in the group had hoped to merge but they could not agree on the pace of integration. The group was hit earlier this year by the loss of Switzerland's Stoffel & Partner and Coppens Van Ommeslaghe & Faurès of Belgium, which also cited disagreements over integration between the firms. The remaining group comprises German firm Pünder Volhard Weber & Axster, Austrian firm Cerha Hempel & Spiegelfeld and French firm De Pardieu Brocas Maffei & Associés. At the end of the year these firms will continue to work together on a case-by-case basis but will no longer have a formal alliance. Peter Nägele, partner at Pünder Volhard, says: "All the firms agreed that alliances are no longer useful but our firm wanted to move ahead more quickly. We decided that it is better to dissolve the group and be free to pursue other options."

US law firm White & Case has been hired by the Republic of Panama to represent it during the privatization of the state-owned integrated electric utility. The Instituto de Recursos Hidraulicos y de Electrificacion (IRHE) is to be divided into eight companies in a two-phase process. On September 10, the first phase was completed with the sale of 51% stakes in the three distribution companies. Spanish company Union Fenosa acquired 51% of EDE Metro-Oeste SA, which serves Panama City, for US$212 million. As part of this deal, Union Fenosa also received 51% of EDE Chiriqui SA, which serves an area close to the Costa Rica border. US utility firm Constellation Power, a subsidiary of Baltimore Gas & Electric Co, bid approximately US$90 million for a 51% stake in EDE Noreste SA. The deals are expected to complete within 60 days.

Dutch employment services company, Randstadt, is acquiring Strategix from its Florida competitor Accustaff. The deal, valued at $850 million, will increase the temporary staffing business of Ranstadt's operations in the US. Ranstadt is being advised from New York by Davis Polk & Wardwell. The team of lawyers is headed by partners David Ferguson (tax), Michael Mollerus (tax) and Gail Flesher (environmental).