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Royal Bank of Canada and Bank of Montreal have agreed to merge. In response to consolidation in the international banking sector the two banks will join to create North America's tenth largest bank by market capitalization (US$26.6 billion). Royal Bank's shareholders will own 54.9% of the new bank and Bank of Montreal's shareholders will own 45.1%. The transaction is being lawyered by three Canadian firms, two US and one UK. On the Canadian side McMillan Binch and Ogilvy Renault advise Royal Bank. Osler, Hoskin & Harcourt advise Bank of Montreal. US firms Sullivan & Cromwell and Simpson Thacher & Bartlett represent Royal Bank on US regulatory law. UK firm's Allen & Overy advise both sides on EU regulatory matters.

Finland's two largest energy companies are to merge. Imatra Power, the state-owned power generator, will join with Neste Oy, the partially privatized oil company. After EU merger clearance, minority shareholdings will be transformed into shares in the new holding company, IVO-Neste Group. The company will have a combined turnover of approximately FIM55 billion (US$10 billion) and will list on the Helsinki stock exchange. Full privatization is likely to follow. The government holds stakes of 95.6% in IVO and 83% in Neste. Gasum, Nesté's natural gas joint venture with Gazprom, will not be included in the merged company. The Ministry of Trade and Industry and IVO-Neste have appointed Finnish firm Roschier-Holmberg & Waselius as legal adviser. The firm's team comprises partners Tomas Lindholm, head of the capital markets group, and Gunnar Westerlund, head of the tax group.

US firm Orrick, Herrington & Sutcliffe has poached structured finance specialist Christopher Lewis from the Hong Kong office of UK firm Simmons & Simmons.The appointment confirms the IFLRev report in the December 1997 issue, where the firm also stated its intention to build an English capability in London. Lewis will be based in Tokyo where Orrick opened an office in 1997. Lewis' loss will be a blow to Simmons & Simmons in a field where specialists are few and the pool of firms with the experience to document new investment banking products is limited. The techniques of structured finance and asset repackaging may be one of the few funding options open in the region. "Although the current financial problems in Japan and Asia are well documented, likely solutions include acceleration of the deregulation process and the development of new financing techniques," says Lewis.

The eastern European offices of Philadelphia-based Pepper, Hamilton & Scheetz are to join New York's Coudert Brothers. Coudert thereby increases its east European practice with the addition of an office in Almaty, Kazakstan and bolsters its position in Moscow and St Petersburg, enlarging its offices in both cities to incorporate Pepper Hamilton's personnel. It remains unclear whether Pepper Hamilton will retain its sole remaining office outside the US in London. The London office had been headed by partner Sally March, who shared her time between London and St Petersburg.

So far, branches have been the most popular way for banks and finance companies to enter the Chinese market. But joint ventures offer an attractive alternative. By Philip Gilligan and Steven Blayney of White & Case, Hong Kong

The Court of Appeal (Murray v Yorkshire Fund Managers Limited) recently considered the question of to whom rights of confidence in business information belong.

The Fed has proposed changes to Regulation K which liberalize the rules governing expansion in the US for international banks. By Connie Friesen and David Nissenbaum of Richards & O’Neil LLP, New York

The government has accepted most of the proposals for reform of the financial sector put up by the government-appointed private sector committee on financial sector competitiveness made public its report offering detailed proposals to promote Singapore as Asia's premier financial centre.

The US's principal federal anti-discrimination law – Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 – has a long extraterritorial reach. Not only does it apply to employees of US and foreign employers working within the US, but it also covers US employees working abroad if the company for whom they work is controlled by a US entity. However, Title VII does not apply to foreign nationals working outside the US.

After the 1992 enactment of the regulatory scheme for the securitization of mortgage assets, the government prepared a draft Royal Decree to regulate securitization funds for non-mortgage assets. Approval of this Royal Decree is expected in the next few months.