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A survey of pay rewards for US in-house lawyers reveals an end to the rise and rise of corporate legal salaries. The study was conducted by the management consulting firm Altman Weil Pensa and jointly published with the American Corporate Counsel Association. According to the survey, chief legal officers, the most senior corporate legal executives, suffered a drop of almost 5% in their compensation (salary plus bonus), and recent law school graduates, traditionally the lowest-paid corporates, saw a 10% fall. On average chief legal officers were paid US$286,621 and new graduates US$46,981.

White & Case's London office has lost its senior partner to Latham & Watkins's London office. Latham & Watkins has lured Bernard Nelson, a corporate finance specialist, from its US rival. Latham & Watkins moved to London in 1990 and has since concentrated on project finance work. But the development of a capital markets capacity is a natural one. "Latham & Watkins is one of the premier capital markets firms worldwide, but traditionally it has not been so strong in Europe," says Nelson. "Now I hope we will become one of the premier departments in Europe."

UK firm Lovell White Durrant has hired capital markets specialist Philip Boys from rival UK firm Slaughter and May. Boys will be a partner in Lovell's Paris office. "We have been doing a lot of capital markets work out of Paris for Indosuez and a number of French banks," says David Hudd, partner in the London capital markets group. "Philip will be involved there, where he has a dual qualification [as a solicitor and avocat]." Boys has wide experience of debt and equity work after 12 years as a partner with Slaughter and May. Reaction to Boys's defection reflects Slaughter and May's receding profile in international capital markets work (see IFLRev survey, February 1997 page 19).

Paris-based Salans Hertzfeld & Heilbronn is to merge with London's Harris Rosenblatt & Kramer. The new firm will practise in London under the name Salans Hertzfeld & Heilbronn HRK. Harris Rosenblatt should be a good fit with Salans Hertzfeld; both firms are active in financing and litigation and the UK firm's English law capacity will enhance the new firm's cross-border financing skills. "In London we focused on international finance work, but had no domestic practice," says George Macdonald, a Salans Hertzfeld partner in London. "Harris Rosenblatt's practice is complementary and its skills are transferable into the international market."

With the remaining barriers between cantons being dismantled and clients demanding specialist expertise, the traditional divisions within the Swiss market are disappearing. Paul Lee reports

With the enactment of the Pension Law (No. 1,732) of November 29 1996, the pension and social security systems in Bolivia have been reformed and a Pensions Superintendency created to oversee their implementation.

BAT Industries is undergoing a £30 billion reconstruction involving the merger of its financial services arm with Zurich Insurance Group. BAT's tobacco business British American Tobacco plc will be listed separately in London and the merged financial services group will be held by a Swiss-registered operating company. BAT shareholders will own 45% of this company through a UK-listed holding company, Allied Zurich, and Zurich shareholders will own 55% through a Swiss-listed holding company.

The former UK Association of Compliance Officers has been re-launched in London as the Compliance Institute six days before the new super-regulator is unveiled by UK Chancellor of the Exchequer Gordon Brown. The Institute has been set up to provide a formal qualification and training package for compliance staff. "Although new legislation and the work of regulatory bodies have helped, financial misconduct and the breach of financial regulations remain rife," says Clive Warburton, president of the Institute. "The Compliance Institute's main purpose is to advance the standards of competence among compliance staff and ultimately to elevate the compliance ethos within regulated businesses."

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

Setting up a representative office is the first and indispensable step towards establishing a banking presence in China. Philip Gilligan and Steven Blayney of White & Case, Hong Kong, explain how