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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

Republic Act No. 8366 (Act) was made law on October 21 1997 and took effect on November 14 1997. The law aims to liberalize the Philippine investment industry by amending certain sections of Presidential Decree No. 129 (Decree), known as the Investment House Law.

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.

Tender bids for Singapore's second fixed-line licence and third mobile phone licence closed on December 31 1997.

The European Council meeting in Luxembourg on December 12 and 13 1997 developed a specific pre-accession strategy for Cyprus. The conclusions note the accession process formally begins on March 30 1998 when the Ministers of Foreign Affairs of the 15 member states meet their opposite numbers from Cyprus and the 10 central and eastern European applicant states. The European Council decided to convene bilateral inter-governmental conferences with Cyprus, the Czech Republic, Estonia, Hungary, Poland and Slovenia to negotiate the conditions of their entry into the EU and the necessary Treaty adjustments. In addition to the establishment of an accession partnership and an increase in pre-accession aid available to all applicants, the specific pre-accession strategy for Cyprus will be based on the following:

The central bank's circular 2.785 of November 27 1997 limited the total amount of margins and premiums paid by foreign capital vehicles to 5% (or 20% or 50%) of their respective net assets, when equivalent total investments in derivatives are the same as (or up to three or more than three times) their net assets.

A recent High Court decision (Anchorage Management Limited v D A Oldham & P J Cordner as trustees of the Royds Family Trust) provides a useful reminder of the potential impact of the Limitation Act 1950. The case involved a debt due from a family trust which was 'payable on demand'. The court reaffirmed a centuries' old rule that, on their own, the words 'payable on demand' are not sufficient to qualify the implied promise of immediate repayment.

Gazprom has arranged a US$3 billion loan to finance its investments in the Yamal pipeline project and to refinance a US$1.2 billion bridge loan. The eight-year facility will be secured against revenues from Gaz de France supply contracts.

US/UK automotive parts supplier LucasVarity is selling its VarityPerkins Engines business to US rival Caterpillar for US$1.3 billion. While the deal surprised some analysts, who viewed Perkins as an essential part of LucasVarity, the acquisition is seen as a good strategic fit for Caterpillar.