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Spanish tax law provides a significant obstacle to the implementation of Employee Share Participation Schemes (ESPSs), in that the transfer of shares to employees at no cost or at below-market prices is subject to taxation. Perhaps for this reason, such schemes have not become well developed in Spain.

A new regulation permits the establishment of Sino-foreign joint ventures to engage in the business of foreign trading in the People's Republic of China. At present, state-run import-export enterprises controlled by the Ministry of Foreign Trade and Economic Cooperation dominate all Sino-foreign trade.

Last summer, the Lloyd's of London restructuring plan came under attack by a large group of US names (as individual investors are referred to in the Lloyd's market). The US names charged Lloyd's with various fraudulent practices and violations of US securities laws.

Following the debate launched earlier this year by the Commission's Green Paper on the review of the Merger Regulation, the Commission has published two proposals for revision of the Regulation, which it has submitted to the Council of Ministers for discussion. One of these, containing the Commission's more controversial proposals concerning reduction of the 'Community dimension' thresholds, is capable of adoption by qualified majority, as envisaged in the existing Regulation. The other proposal, which requires the unanimous agreement of the member states, contains a number of improvements to the Regulation which are likely to be less controversial.

The Council of Ministers issued a Regulation, effective from August 31 1996, aimed at the detection of money-laundering activities. Turkish banks and branches in Turkey of foreign banks are obliged to determine the identities of persons engaged in any transaction exceeding TL1 million (US$11,000). The amount will be reviewed every year in January by the Undersecretariat of Treasury in light of changes in the Wholesale Price Index.

On October 1 1996 a fully revised set of rules on the listing of securities on the Swiss Stock Exchange (the New Listing Regulations) came into effect. The primary goal of the revision was to anticipate the guidelines of the Federal Code on Stock Exchanges and Securities Trading, expected to be enacted by January 1 1997 and to assimilate the listing rules to 'international standards', ie, in particular, the EU directives on the reporting duties of issuers.

The state reinsurance monopoly has now been lifted with the enactment of Constitutional Amendment No. 13 of August 21 1996. In accordance with the new wording of Article 192, II of the Constitution, licensing requirements and other conditions applicable to reinsurance shall be regulated in a complementary law. There are at present two bills on the subject being examined in Congress.

McKenna & Co has announced that it has taken five lawyers from UK rival Nabarro Nathanson, establishing 'the number one real estate practice in Warsaw'. Resident Nabarro partner Steven Shone has moved with three of his property team to McKenna & Co with one more set to join.

US firm Milbank, Tweed, Hadley & McCloy has revamped its Asian practice after the departure of project finance partner Glenn Gerstell to the Washington office.

The Central Bank of Russia recently issued Instructions giving foreign investors greater scope to invest in rouble-denominated bonds. By Mira Davidovski and Robert Chernoff of Salans Hertzfeld & Heilbronn, Paris and Moscow