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The new US tax regulations will have mixed effects for US companies engaged in project finance. Keith Martin of Chadbourne & Parke, Washington DC, looks at the good and the bad news

The success of the first Europe-wide electronic securities market owes much to the new possibilities afforded by EU investment services legislation. By Dirk Tirez, general counsel of Easdaq, Brussels

The privatization committee established in January 1996 has been made into a permanent committee and renamed the Privatization Committee for the Water and Electricity Sectors (PCWES). The PCWES is given a general supervisory and planning role in respect of the proposed utility privatization programme for the Emirate of Abu Dhabi. This role includes the proposal of legislation and regulations for the privatization programme, as well as proposals for the reorganization of government departments and projects in the power and water sectors. The powers of the PCWES include the authority to retain staff, to appoint outside consultants, and to delegate to one or more members of the PCWES the powers necessary to implement the purposes of the PCWES. The PCWES is directed to prepare budgets for its activities and to submit them to the Crown Prince for approval.

The Russian government has enacted ambitious new legislation designed to strengthen the enforcement of judicial orders. The new rules are to apply to orders issued by all Russian general courts, the Constitutional Court, the Supreme Court, the High Arbitration Court, all arbitration courts and foreign courts, as well as orders of certain other government bodies. At present, Russia's Civil Procedural Code, and the procedural rules of the various court systems, govern enforcement procedures, including the conversion and seizure of property to satisfy court judgments. In the emerging Russian market economy, identifying, seizing, and converting assets under a court order is often tedious, time-consuming and expensive. Results vary widely. Officials themselves concede that enforcement practices are weak. The new legislation seeks to address these problems by enforcing compliance with court orders and government decisions and clamping down on delinquent debtors.

MeritaNordbanken, the bank to be formed from the recently announced merger of Finland's Merita Bank and Sweden's Nordbanken, will be the second largest in Scandinavia by value of assets. Only Sweden's Handelsbanken will be larger.

The Danish government is to submit the Amsterdam Treaty to a public referendum. Under the Danish constitution, a public referendum is required in all cases where 'sovereignty' (as the term is used in the constitution) is or could be transferred from the Danish state to another body. At the opening of the Danish parliamentary session in the first week of October, the referendum was scheduled for May 28 1998. The latest polls indicate that most voters are in favour of the Treaty. If the public votes for the Treaty, it will subsequently be ratified by the Danish parliament.

Although the Cyprus Stock Exchange (CSE) has reported a surplus of C£650,000 (US$1.24 million) for the year 1996, there has been an alarming drop in share prices and the volume of trade. Interested parties have thus realized the urgent need for immediate measures to help the CSE become a strong capital market.

Law firms from the UK, US and Hong Kong have advised on the first ever Chinese GDRs listed on the London Stock Exchange. Zhejiang Southeast Electric Power Company's dual listing on the London and Shanghai exchanges will also be China's largest B-share offering. The company's total market capitalization will be more than US$200 million.

For the first time, the decision of a regulator relating to modifications of a utility's licence has been successfully challenged on the basis that the regulator acted irrationally.

The Federal Banking Commission (FBC) plans to approve the first hedge fund domiciled in Switzerland in its November 1997 session. Since the FBC approved in its February session this year the first two foreign hedge funds for public marketing and distribution in and from Switzerland, it appears the Swiss investment fund market has gained momentum. The new hedge fund scheduled to be approved is a fund of funds, predominantly investing its assets in offshore hedge funds, whereas the first two foreign hedge funds already approved were Irish investment funds using alternative investment techniques and instruments.