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With an ambitious privatization programme and a thriving economy, Finland’s lawyers welcome outside interest in their country’s quiet success. Nick Ferguson reports from Helsinki

The Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) has announced that share buybacks will be made legal by the fourth quarter of 1998, following feedback from industry bodies and financial market participants. Companies will be permitted to repurchase shares on the market in round lots out of distributable profits at any time within the period mandated by shareholders. The proposed legislation, which will complement the provisions permitting capital reduction in the Singapore Companies Act, will provide appropriate safeguards to ensure that creditors' interests are preserved and to minimize abuse, while providing sufficient flexibility to companies.

The ministry of finance is preparing a government Bill containing proposed amendments to the Act on Investment Funds. The aim is for the Bill to be ratified and become effective by the end of this year.

Act No. CXII/1996 on credit institutions and financial enterprises permits the setting up of a centralized domestic electronic database. The passing on and/or accessing of database information on debtors by financial institutions and investment companies does not constitute a violation of banking secrecy. However, this database should not contain information on natural persons. The Act was amended with effect from January 1 1998; it is now permissible to store and provide information on natural persons. The difference between data on private persons and data on non-private persons is that information on private persons is limited to a 'blacklist', ie only those debtors are recorded who have not met their obligations within 90 days of the due date. On the other hand, debtors who are non-private persons are always registered as soon as they conclude a loan or quasi-loan agreement, irrespective of whether they are in default of payment.

A new Russian bankruptcy law became effective on March 1 1998 (Federal Law No. 6-FZ On Bankruptcy). Given the difficulties being experienced by the Russian economy and the precarious state of many enterprises, the new law may assume growing importance in the reform process. Under previous legislation, bankruptcies proved difficult to implement and only infrequently resulted in the liquidation or material restructuring of troubled debtors. Key improvements in the new law include a revised and more practical definition of bankruptcy; a wider list of actors who may start bankruptcy proceedings; and new and more detailed procedures governing the activities of the courts, creditors and manager/trustees in connection with bankruptcy.

New regulations on netting agreements governing financial transactions related to derivative instruments have been passed as an additional provision to a law customarily enacted at the same time as the approval of the budget for the following year. That law, which came into force on January 1 1998, added a new section to a 1994 law on the Second Banking Directive.

Despite resistance from rivals and internal opposition, Lagerlöf & Leman has chosen European integration over independence. Nick Ferguson reports from Stockholm on a market divided by Lagerlöf’s vision for European legal services

US telecommunications company AT&T and British Telecommunications (BT) are embarking on a joint venture which is expected to make US$11 billion in annual revenue. The companies aim to increase their presence in the multinational telecoms market. Advising AT&T is Wachtell Lipton Rosen & Katz, New York. The team of lawyers includes partners Steven Rosenblum (corporate), Richard Katcher (corporate), Stephanie Seligman (corporate), Adrienne Atkinson (corporate), Peter Canellos (tax), Jodi Schwartz (tax) and Ilene Gotts (antitrust).

US drugs company Johnson & Johnson is buying orthopaedic supplies company DePuy for US$3.5 billion. Roche Holding, the Swiss pharmaceutical company, is selling its 84% stake in DePuy to the company. Cravath Swaine & Moore is representing Johnson & Johnson of New Jersey. The team of lawyers includes partners Robert Kindler (corporate), Robert Townsend (corporate) and Stephen Gordon (tax).

UK firm Linklaters & Paines has been hired by British Petroleum for its US$50 billion agreed takeover of Amoco in the US. The oil company merger is the world's largest industrial merger and lawyer's fees are likely to be considerable. The resulting company, BP Amoco plc, will have a market capitalization of US$110 billion with 100,000 employees worldwide. It will be one of the three biggest oil companies in the world along with Royal Dutch/Shell and Exxon. The equity split will be 60% to BP shareholders and 40% to Amoco shareholders. Advising Amoco on the transaction in the US are Wachtell, Lipton, Rosen & Katz partners Andrew Brownstein and Martin Lipton. UK counsel to Amoco is Freshfields, with a team including senior partner Anthony Salz, corporate partners William Lawes and Neil Radford, EU law partners Rachel Brandenburger and John Davies, and tax partners Francis Sandison and Sarah Falk.