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The awards research has now begun, with winners to be announced in October

The pandemic ground the world to an almost complete halt. Dealmakers explain how corporate finance is adapting

On July 24 2019, based on a request from the Financial Services Agency (FSA), the Trust Companies Association of Japan – a financial association whose members comprise of financial institutions engaged in trust businesses – proposed sample provisions to deal with the risk of money laundering etc. in trust agreements. The outline of these sample provisions is as follows:

Since its inception, Panama has positioned itself as a world-leading logistic services provider. This has been in part due to its privileged geographical location and connectivity, as well as to a solid pro-market and dollarised economy. A robust banking system and a responsible territorial fiscal regime have qualified Panama as an investment-grade country since 2010 – and it has since been upgraded by Moody's, Fitch Ratings and Standard & Poor's.

Another set of measures came into force in Slovakia on May 12 to protect business operators from the fallout caused by Covid-19. These measures implement interim bankruptcy protections for business operators. These measures are temporary and as it stands, will expire on October 1 2020, with an option for the government to extend them through December 31 2020.

Libor [London interbank offered rate] is the primary benchmark, along with Euribor, for short-term interest rates around the world. Libor rates are calculated for five currencies and seven borrowing periods, ranging from overnight to one year, and are published each business day. Libor is based on submissions provided by a selection of large international panel banks. These submissions are intended to reflect the interest rate at which banks could lend one another unsecured funds. Many financial institutions, mortgage lenders, and credit card agencies set their own rates based on this. However, in 2017, the UK's Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) announced that after 2021 it would no longer require the panel banks to submit the rates needed to calculate Libor. Libor will no longer be published after the end of 2021, and market participants are urged to transition to alternative reference rates (ARRs).

In 2015, the National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC) issued the Circular on Promoting the Reform of the Filing and Registration Regime for Issuance of Foreign Debt by Enterprises, under which, both issuance of bonds and borrowing of mid-and-long term commercial loans overseas by PRC enterprises and/or their offshore subsidiaries and branches (collectively, the debtors) are subject to a prior filing and registration with NDRC (foreign debt filing). Over the past five years, the debtors as applicants encountered a lot of issues with regard to the foreign debt filing due to the ambiguity in definitions, scope and standards thereof. As a result, the NDRC issued detailed application guidance including 25 FAQs and respective answers in February 2020, aiming to make these issues clear.

Homburger lawyers René Bösch, Benjamin Leisinger and Pierina Janett-Seiler summarise the new Swiss prospectus regime, with a special focus on exchange offers and consent solicitations

Switzerland is generally an attractive business location from a tax perspective, however not when it comes to interest withholding tax on notes and bonds. The Swiss 35% withholding tax on interest payment is imposed not only on notes and bonds issued by Swiss borrowers, but can also, in certain circumstances, apply to notes and bonds issued by foreign group companies guaranteed by Swiss group companies.

Gönenç Gürkaynak and Öznur İnanılır of ELIG Gürkaynak Attorneys-at-Law unpick the key aspects of Turkey’s merger control regime. A pending Draft Competition Law has now been suspended