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US firm Seward & Kissel has pulled out of Hungary. The Budapest practice of US rival Squire, Sanders & Dempsey will take over the office. Seward & Kissel's office, which opened in Budapest in 1992 and was the firm's only foreign outpost, was staffed by two senior lawyers: partner Blaise Pasztory and counsel Peter Komaromi. Squire Sanders' five lawyer team will move into Seward & Kissel's old office under the management of Pasztory and Komaromi.

The Australian Stock Exchange (ASX) is allowing for listing, trading and settlement of Eurobonds for the first time. In a further move to promote itself as a leading Asian regional exchange, it is in discussions with Nasdaq, the US exchange, to facilitate dual listings. The decision to trade debt on Australia's exchange through Chess, ASX's settlement system, was taken because of the popularity of Eurobonds in London and Luxembourg. Eurobonds can be traded by creating Cufs (Chess Units of Foreign Securities) – financial instruments similar to American Depository Receipts. The first company to take advantage of the rule change is Bell Atlantic, which launched a US$2.5 billion Euronote issue on February 27 1998. The Euronotes are quoted as notes and are traded and settled as Cufs.

Philadelphia-based firm Morgan, Lewis & Bockius LLP's problems in Indonesia continue. The investigation of the firm launched in February for allegedly offering Indonesian law advice in contravention of its licence (see International Financial Law Review, March 1998, page 3) has now been complemented by a full study of the activities of foreign firms in the jurisdiction and a move to revise and clarify the rules. Bertie Mehigan, head of Morgan Lewis's Singapore office, says he understands that the Indonesian police stopped their investigation of the firm in mid-April. However, on April 22 (one week after the supposed end of the investigation) Adnan Buyung Nasution, name partner at Indonesia's Nasution, Soedibjo, Maqdir & Partners, said: "The Indonesian authorities are still interrogating them, the lawyers and employees. We are still waiting for the result of the investigation." He hopes the investigation will be finished by mid-May.

• US firm Paul, Weiss, Rifkind, Wharton & Garrison has poached a five-lawyer fund management team from US rival Baker & McKenzie. The team is led by partners Steven Howard and Scott MacLeod.

Creditors have several options under the Malaysian Companies Act 1965: the company can be wound up, put into receivership or have its assets possessed. By Philip Teoh Oon Teong of David Chong & Co, Kuala Lumpur

A wide-ranging reform and codification of Italian capital markets law tidies up some outstanding problems. It also introduces detailed rules on corporate governance. By Susanna Beltramo and Stefano Agnoli of Studio Legale Beltramo, Rome

To cut perceived abuses of the safe harbour for offshore securities sales, the US SEC has restricted the use of Regulation S by US issuers. By Richard Muglia and Annemarie Tierney of Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom LLP, London

Nearly 75% of the voting capital, corresponding to about 30% of the total capital of Eletropaulo Metropolina was sold at auction for about US$1.8 billion on April 15. Eletropaulo Metropolina was the largest of the two distribution networks of Eletropaulo which, in turn, was the largest distributor of electricity in Latin America. The participation was acquired by Light, already a distributor of electricity in Rio de Janeiro, controlled by a consortium formed by Companhia Siderúgica Nacional, the American companies Huston and AES and the French company EDF.

Under Swiss law, domestic investment funds, including hedge funds, are to be organized either as investment companies or multiple investors' contracts. Multiple investors' contracts will be governed by the Swiss Law on Investment Funds, while investment companies are subject to the Swiss Company Law, which is part of the Swiss Code of Obligations. If investment companies are listed on the Swiss Stock Exchange, they will also be subject to the listing rules of the stock exchange.

Arbitration has become an increasingly important method of dispute resolution. Before the resumption of sovereignty by China on July 1 1997, Hong Kong and China were separate parties to the New York Convention on the Recognition and Enforcement of Foreign Arbitral Awards 1958. Chinese artibral awards were convention awards, enforceable in Hong Kong under section 42(1) of the Arbitration Ordinance. However, since July 1 1997, when Hong Kong and China ceased to be separate parties to the New York Convention, section 42(1) has no longer applied to Chinese awards. Questions then arose as to how Chinese arbitral awards can be enforced in Hong Kong.