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Travelers Group, the US financial services group, is to pay US$9 billion for Salomon, the holding company for Wall Street investment bank Salomon Brothers. Salomon is believed to have sought the merger after heavy third-quarter losses. Travelers will merge Salomon into its own domestic brokerage business, Smith Barney.

Measures introduced by securities regulators in Argentina will make it easier for foreign issuers to access the country’s emerging capital market. By Rodolfo Gerardo Papa of Cárdenas, Cassagne & Asociados, Buenos Aires

If credit derivatives are found to be contracts of insurance, in many jurisdictions they will face strict regulation. David Benton, Patrick Devine and Philip Jarvis of Allen & Overy, London, explain how this interpretation can be avoided

On October 3 1997, the Commission published a draft Notice on the definition of relevant markets for the purposes of Community competition law. This text is not expected to be amended very substantially.

The briefing entitled 'Full disclosure rules issued' in the September 1997 issue of International Financial Law Review misstated the definition of public companies in the new Full Disclosure Rules. The following is the correct definition.

The German government has launched a three-pronged initiative aimed at overhauling Germany’s antitrust law and making it Euro-compatible. By Wolfgang von Meibom and Jan Byok of Wessing Berenberg-Gossler Zimmermann Lange, Düsseldorf

In September, the Singapore government issued a statement on the appointment of a committee to review Singapore's strategic legal needs in the financial sector and the conditions under which foreign law firms and foreign lawyers are permitted to operate in Singapore in the context of ensuring Singapore's competitiveness in financial services. The committee is headed by the Attorney-General and consists of a judge, a government official, senior partners of local and foreign law firms and senior officials of local and foreign banks operating in Singapore.

From September 1 1997, under Decree 153 of May 26 1997, the procedure for informing the authorities of suspected money-laundering transactions has changed. Transactions which may infringe the provisions of Articles 648 bis and ter of the Penal Code must now be reported to the Italian Foreign Exchange Bureau (IFEB) rather than to the police. In accordance with its new administrative role, the IFEB issued a circular letter setting out the basic guidelines for anti-laundering procedures. The circular lays down the criteria by which suspect banking transactions may be identified, such as discrepancies between the character of transaction and the client's financial profile, or its acceptance of inconvenient terms and rates. After being notified of the suspect transaction, the IFEB must forward the relevant evidence to the investigating Anti-Mafia Bureau and to the Tax Police special department dealing with with foreign currency matters, which will pursue the investigation further on the basis of the information received. Should the investigation uncover a link with organized crime, the National Anti-Mafia Procurator will be informed and he will take appropriate steps. To comply with the new anti-laundering provisions, the IFEB has prepared a standard form for financial services firms. In particular, details of the transaction and the reasons for it being considered suspicious must be provided, thus putting the burden of assessing each transaction on the financial operator.

Three years after the Uruguay round of Gatt, the Czech Republic, a party to Gatt and a member of the WTO, has adopted national legislation in line with the agreement on the implementation of Article 6 of Gatt signed in Marrakesh on April 15 1994.

Decree 2,338 of October 7 1997, published in the official gazette on October 8 1997, implements Law 9,472 of July 16 1997, which created a regulatory agency for the telecoms sector, the National Agency of Telecommunications (ANATEL) and paved the way for the privatization of the operating subsidiaries of the state-owned utility Telebrás.