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Dallas-based Akin, Gump, Strauss, Hauer & Feld, LLP opened an office in London at the end of April. At the moment staffed by four lawyers, including former Linklaters & Paines senior partner John Edwards, the office will concentrate on capital markets work. According to office managing partner Keith Hughes, this is not a new development for the firm. "We were already here, we are only adding the office to complement our existing presence. We have been doing capital markets transactions in London for several years now," he says.

‘Rogue’ traders are an inevitable price paid by the markets for their cultivation of immature and selfish behaviour. By Eric C Bettelheim of Mayer, Brown & Platt, London

Boutique financial services firm MW Cornish & Co will join Arnheim & Co, big six accountant Price Waterhouse's UK law firm, on July 1. Senior partner Martin Cornish becomes head of the Price Waterhouse European legal financial services practice. MW Cornish claims a range of expertise in banking, corporate and corporate finance work, but Arnheim & Co emphasizes the firm's expertise in fund management work. David Newton, Price Waterhouse partner responsible for investment management, says: "The addition of legal expertise is an important step in the development of our Investment Management business. Our ambition is simple: to be recognized as the leading professional advisers to the funds management industry worldwide."

Argentine Law 24597 (the Registration Law), published in the Official Gazette on November 22 1995, established that all securities issued by Argentine private sector issuers should be converted to non-endorsable registered form and that no bearer securities should be issued by Argentine private issuers thereafter.

The stamp duty on loans from Finnish banks and their branches abroad, now charged at 1.5%, would, under a plan initiated by the second minister of finance, be abolished. It has been claimed that stamp duties on loans, which in Europe are charged only in Finland and Denmark, discriminate against Finnish banks when compared with foreign banks active in Finland (other than Finnish branches of foreign banks, loans from which are also subject to 1.5% stamp duty).

On April 16 the Czech government announced a package of measures to cut growing budget and trade deficits, stimulate the sluggish economy, dampen demand for imports and add confidence to the Czech capital markets. The package consists of monetary and fiscal measures, policies on privatization and capital markets and the protection of the domestic market, and measures aimed at tackling white collar crime.

The Supreme Court has been working with the Singapore Academy of Law to promote the resolution of disputes by way of mediation. Cases considered suitable for mediation have been identified by the Supreme Court and, with the parties' consent, referred to the Commercial Mediation Service of the Singapore Academy of Law. The promotion of the use of mediation is another extension of the judiciary's efforts to encourage litigants to settle their disputes amicably.

The Danish Act on UCITS is being revised in a proposal tabled in April and which also includes the possibility of establishing 'NON-UCITS' in Denmark.

The Cyprus Stock Exchange (CSE) is preparing the market for a 'big bang' by implementing a major deregulation which will free the fixed trading brokerage commissions and allow stockbrokers to offer and set their fees according to supply and demand. The shake-up could be implemented by July 1997, two years after Cyprus Stock Exchange Law was passed. At present, investors pay a 1% brokerage commission when buying securities, plus 0.15% stamp duty levied by the government, and a further 1% brokerage commission when selling their positions. The fee paid by the brokers to the CSE was most recently reduced to 1 per thousand or 10% of the amount the brokers collect from investors for both inside and outside transactions.

Lloyd's litigation