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As of May 8 1997, data protection rules have been in force under the provisions of Law No. 675 of December 31 1996 which enacted EU Directive No. 9 of March 11 1996. Varying levels of protection for personal data are contemplated and the Authority responsible recently criticized Banca Nazionale del Lavoro (BNL) because the forms used by BNL to obtain customers' consent breached the provisions of Law 675. The Authority considered BNL's forms too vague and general and in its opinion the bank's customers would be unlikely to be clear about how and for what purposes their personal data was being collated. The Authority invited BNL to modify the forms sent to customers particularly in view of the fact that refusal by customers to give BNL their consent would have meant the automatic termination of their contractual relationship with BNL and the immediate suspension by the bank of all transactions.

In May 1997 the Czech financial markets were plunged into an unprecedented crisis when a wave of speculative selling triggered severe currency turbulence. The Czech National Bank spent millions of dollars propping up the Czech koruna against attacks by both foreign and domestic investors.

In June the new Banking Law of Cyprus was passed by the House of Representatives. Its main aim is to harmonize the island's legislation with that of the EU, to regulate the banking system and give protection to depositors.

Since disposing of its oil interests in Ecuador in 1992, Texaco has faced a spate of lawsuits stemming from damages allegedly caused by decades of oil exploration and extraction activities carried out by a consortium company owned by the state-owned oil company, Petroecuador, and Texaco. In the US, these claims have been pressed in the federal courts through class actions brought in the name of Ecuadorean citizens seeking damages of US$1.5 billion and equitable relief consisting of a court-supervised clean-up of the affected areas in Ecuador. The first such suit, Sequiha v Texaco, started in Texas in August 1993, seeking damages for 500,000 Ecuadoreans, and was dismissed five months later on grounds of comity and forum non conveniens. The second, Aguinda v Texaco, was brought in November 1993 for a class of about 30,000 indigenous citizens. It continued through pre-trial discovery until November 1996, when the New York federal court dismissed the claims on the same grounds. However, the judge also based the dismissal on the failure to join two indispensable parties to the litigation — Petroecuador and the government of Ecuador — deemed necessary for the equitable portion of the case.

Switzerland generally gets good marks for its efforts to keep its financial markets clean. Together, the Swiss Penal Code, the Guidelines of the Swiss Federal Banking Commission and the Code of Conduct of the Swiss Banks constitute a solid regulatory barrier against the channelling of criminal money into the banking sector. The Financial Action Task Force of the G7 countries not long ago recognized Switzerland's efforts as a substantial contribution to the worldwide struggle against money-laundering.

The International Bar Association (IBA) has set up a drafting group to produce a position paper on multi-disciplinary partnerships (MDPs). The group, established by the IBA's standing committee on MDPs, aims to submit the paper to IBA president Desmond Fernando in October. Fernando's comments will then be put before the committee in New Delhi in November. The drafting team will be: Ward Bower of consultants Altman Weil Pensa and chairman of the standing committee; Tony Huydecoper, dean of the Nederlandse Orde van Advocaten (the Dutch bar association); David Andrews of the David Andrews Partnership; and Heinz Loeber, name partner at Germany's Heller Loeber Bahn & Partners.

The financing of large communication and infrastructure projects suggests the possibility of new forms of indebtedness, and the private placement of securities abroad is one option in project financing. In the past four years Colombian corporations and special purpose vehicles have privately placed securities abroad to finance their projects.

New York's niche aviation, maritime and transport-related asset finance firm Haight, Gardner, Poor & Havens has agreed to a merger offer from Miami-based general practice firm Holland & Knight. "In the globalizing market you can no longer sit back and say we're Haight Gardner, we're the best in aviation, shipping and asset finance. That's not enough any more," explains Brian Starer, chairman of the firm. "The client base needs broader-based services. We found more and more over the last few years that we had to pass on business such as IPOs to other firms," he continues. "We decided that when we were approached by a firm with a whole shopping cart full of services we should jump into their basket."

Compaq Computer is acquiring Tandem Computers for about US$3 billion in stock. Tandem is best known for its fault-tolerant computer systems, and the merged company will be the world's largest supplier of computers based on the Intel chip and Microsoft software.

Jiangxi Copper Company has become the second Chinese state-owned enterprise to list in both Hong Kong and London, after the dual listing of Datang Power in May. The flotation raised HK$1512.7 million (US$195 million).