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In October the Commission held an oral hearing to discuss the way forward following the publication of its Green Paper on vertical restraints, referred to in the March 1997 issue of International Financial Law Review (see page 62).

A new rule opens Saudi Arabia to independent power projects for the first time. Project finance is likely to take off, and the forthcoming power plant, Shuaiba, may be a BOO project. By Steven Miles of Arent Fox, Washington DC and Jeddah, Saudi Arabia

Colombian law affords substantial protection to those who act as commercial agents. Agents may claim compensation on termination of the agency relationship, regardless of the cause of termination, and regardless of the law which governs their contract, so long as the contract is performed in Colombia.

On January 21 Swiss chemical group Ciba announced it is to buy UK industrial chemical maker Allied Colloids with a friendly offer of US$2.33 billion. Ciba Specialty Chemical Holding bid US$3.36 per share of Allied Colloids, knocking out rival US bidder Hercules.

Linklaters & Paines and Sullivan & Cromwell have again risen to the top in a hectic year. Cravath Swaine & Moore and Davis Polk & Wardwell share the Yankee title. Nick Ferguson and Barbara Galli report

Continuing the programme of economic reforms started in 1989, president Menem's last full year of government before elections in 1999 will be characterized by the privatization of most publicly held companies and the selling of shareholdings in those privatized companies in which the government holds a participation, principally in the electric and banking sectors.

The development of the European asset-backed securities market took a significant step forward in October last year with the launch by Ford Credit of a highly innovative US$5billion global securitization programme. Globaldrive is the first Euro asset-backed programme to be set up by a corporate. It seeks to bring to Ford Credit's asset-backed issues the flexibility and efficiency of a medium-term note programme. The inaugural issue under the programme, an AAA rated Dm1 billion (US$550 million) floating rate issue backed by US dollar wholesale auto receivables, closed successfully on October 15 1997.

Quebec has moved to drop the requirement that prospectuses must be published in French, as well as other discouragements to foreign issuers. By Andrew Fleming of Ogilvy Renault, London

China's new foreign loans regime bars non-profitable companies from seeking international finance, and also limits the profitable ones. Worries about the Asian crisis have ensured caution. By Guanxi Zheng of Stikeman, Elliott, Hong Kong

The collapse of BCCI resulted in a number of cases. The Hong Kong Court of Appeal and the Privy Council (replaced by the Court of Final Appeal in Hong Kong since July 1 1997) have recently delivered two judgments.