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In one of the most significant moves in the expansion of the legal networks of the big six, Ramon Lladó, managing partner with Madrid-based J&A Garrigues, has confirmed that the firm is in merger talks with Spanish legal firm Arthur Andersen ALT.

In the second of two articles, Tim Soutar and Judith Hanson, of Clifford Chance, Hong Kong, continue their discussion of the role played by Asian governments in developing independent power sectors

US Supreme Court limits punitive damages

In June 1996, the Securities Committee of China's State Council issued a notice on the recommendation of the fourth batch of mainland enterprises for overseas listings. What is new is the degree of participation it allows foreign investment bankers in selecting prospective listing candidates. The submission of an analytical report prepared by the underwriter on the reorganization and listing prospects of the recommended enterprise is now required. Thus foreign investment bankers will be involved in the early stages of the screening process.

The Commission published a preliminary draft Notice on September 10 on cooperation between national competition authorities and the Commission in cases falling within Articles 85 and 86 of the EU Treaty.

Chinese incorporated companies began listing their shares (H-shares) on the Stock Exchange of Hong Kong (SEHK) in 1993. Some H-share companies failed adequately to comply with SEHK disclosure requirements. Stricter compliance was necessary. In 1995 a combination of stricter enforcement by the SEHK and better understanding of the requirements by H-share companies resulted in substantial improvement. To ensure continued compliance with disclosure requirements, the SEHK issued extra recommendations, which should be observed in addition to the uniform disclosure requirements for all SEHK-listed companies.

Under Swedish law, a parent company owning more than nine-tenths of the shares with more than nine-tenths of the votes in a subsidiary has the right to redeem the remaining shares from the minority shareholders. The value of a minority share in such a situation must in principle correspond to the value of a majority share. If the parent company has acquired the greater portion of the shares through an offer to an extended group of persons for certain consideration, then the redemption sum shall be equivalent to that consideration, unless there is a special reason otherwise.

The Bank of Italy has introduced changes to Chapter XII of its Regulations concerning the issue of bonds by Italian banks. These have the effect that the existing distinctions made between different types of issuing banks according to their capital base have been abolished. As a consequence, banks with a capital base of less than L50 billion (US$ 196 million) are now allowed to issue bonds with a denomination of at least L5 million provided that the issue has 'market characteristics'.

Publication of a draft Third Financial Markets Promotion Act (Drittes Finanzmarktförderungsgesetz) aimed at further enhancing the economic and legal framework for the operation of the German capital markets is now imminent. A number of the key changes to be introduced by the proposed Act are:

A question frequently raised both among members of the offshore community and the authorities in Cyprus is whether the existing favourable offshore tax regime will be affected in any way by the proposed accession to the EU.