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On April 2 1998, the House of Representatives passed the new Patent Law 16(1)/98. The main provisions of the new law which are significantly different from the old law are as follows:

The proposed cut of the 1.5% stamp duty payable on credits granted by Finnish credit institutions will effect major changes on credit granting. Under the government bill, stamp duty will no longer be levied on loan agreements and mortgages. The amendment is proposed to be retroactive, enabling creditors to proceed an action ex post facto for the stamp duty paid in connection with the granting of the loan if the loan agreement has been signed on or after April 29 1998.

In September 1997, ABN AMRO launched a Fls2 billion securitization transaction. It was the first securitization originated by ABN AMRO and one of the first securitizations completed in the Netherlands. A portfolio of ABN AMRO-originated mortgage receivables was assigned to a special purpose vehicle named European Mortgage Securities IBV (EMS 1), established in the Netherlands. The shares in EMS 1 are held by Stichting European Mortgage Securities, also established in the Netherlands. EMS 1 issued four tranches of senior notes for an aggregate sum of Fls1.9 million and junior notes for an amount of Fls100 million. The senior notes were rated AAA by Moody's, AAA by Standard & Poor's and AAA by Fitch, and the junior notes A2 by Moody's, A by Standard & Poor's and A by Fitch.

The Singapore Law Society has issued a new code of conduct for lawyers in an attempt to provide greater transparency. The code, which came into force on June 1, formalizes the Society's existing Practice Directions, a series of guidelines for lawyers covering ethics, client-lawyer and lawyer-lawyer relationships, and conduct of business. Lawyers must now ensure clients are aware how much they will be charged, and on what basis, before work is started. They must also keep clients 'reasonably informed', making sure they see all relevant documents, and are now expected to respond promptly to telephone calls from clients and keep appointments unless they have good reasons. Lawyers found guilty of misconduct can be fined up to $5000, reprimanded, suspended or even struck off.

• Nine partners have left London's Frere Cholmeley Bischoff following last month's merger with UK firm Eversheds. They include three Paris-based partners who will move to other firms in the city: Ann Creelman Abboud is to join US firm Watson Farley & Williams's Paris office as partner in charge of its corporate practice and will take two avocats with her; commercial and litigation specialist Jean-Philippe Berthet will move to US firm Proskauer Rose Goetz & Mendelsohn and Richard Mees, a corporate and litigation specialist, will move to French firm Salans Hertzfeld & Heilbronn. Other moves include telecoms partner Neil Blundell going to UK firm Bird & Bird and Kirstene Baillie, a financial services specialist, moving to UK firm Field Fisher Waterhouse. Eleven other partners and 44 assistants have also left to set up a new firm, to be called Forsters (see Insides). • David Shaw, a senior corporate partner with UK firm Norton Rose, is to retire from the firm to join HSBC Holdings as adviser to the board. Shaw will chair the Investment Banking Audit Committee within the HSBC Group Executive Committee, advising on strategies and structural issues. He will take up his appointment on June 1.

Bruno Cova, general counsel at Agip, the Exploration & Production Division of Eni, talks to Barbara Galli

New Swiss legislation has opened the way for more sharing of administrative assistance information, building from the success of cooperation in the criminal field. By Claude Rouiller of Ziegler & Poncet, Geneva, former Chief Justice of Switzerland

A New York Court of Appeals case in May suggested that the US may introduce a system like the UK Mareva injunction to protect assets in insolvency. By Ronald L Cohen of Seward & Kissel, New York

When a railroad tank car explosion forced 1,000 residents of the New Orleans neighbourhood of Gentilly to evacuate their homes for 36 hours in 1987, the incident attracted little attention outside Louisiana. After all, there were no deaths and the residents did not suffer any serious damage or injuries. But 10 years later, after a New Orleans jury awarded US$3.4 billion in punitive damages against five companies found to be at fault, the case, In re New Orleans Train Car Leakage Fire Litigation, No. 97-CC-2547, suddenly captured the eye of the legal community and national media, earning itself the nickname 'The Great New Orleans Train Robbery'.

Hong Kong market regulators have acted to promote Hong Kong as an international financial centre while protecting the interests of local retail investors. By Richard A Drucker and Timothy A Steinert of Davis Polk & Wardwell, Hong Kong*