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In 1996 the Mexican government organized an entity called Valuación y Ventas de Activos SA (VVA) for the purpose of organizing a series of sales of loans made by Mexican banks. The aggregate amount of the loans is said to exceed US$42 billion. The loans are held by Fondo Bancario para la Protección de Activos (FOBAPROA), a trust administered by Banco de México, the central bank.

The US$944 million financing package for Osprey Maritime Limited of Singapore to purchase Gotaas-Larsen Shipping Corporation is the largest non-government ship finance transaction. It is also the largest US dollar syndicated loan provided by Singapore banks.

The London International Financial Futures and Options Exchange (Liffe) has bought a long leasehold interest in part of the 13-acre Spitalfields site, in London, to build a new trading building.

New York mutual life insurer Metropolitan Life Insurance has acquired Californian-based Security First Group from London Insurance Group. The deal is worth US$377 million.

The latest no-action letters from the US SEC expand the exemptions available to unregistered dealers. By Charles S Gittleman, Julia E Moran and Eva Don-Siemion of Shearman & Sterling, New York

What do these words mean in the context of a financial agreement? Financial lawyers are very familiar with this phrase because it is included in most loan participation agreements and syndicated loan agreements for the purpose of protecting the lead or agent bank.

The Perth office of Australian firm Freehill Hollingdale & Page has completed its merger with Perth rival Parker & Parker. The office will use the Freehill name. "There was a very strong business case for our firms to merge," says Peter Mansell, managing partner of Freehill Hollingdale & Page Perth. "Our aim is to provide eastern states expertise and depth at Western Australian rates. There will no longer be the need for Western Australia corporates to take legal advice in the east."

German sportswear company Adidas is acquiring French rival Salomon, best known for skiing equipment, for Ffr8 billion (US$1.3 billion). The first part of the transaction is the purchase of 100% of Sport Developpement, a private family company owning 39% of Salomon shares representing 56% of the company's voting rights. A public offer will follow. Adidas will become the second largest sportswear manufacturer, behind US rival Nike.

The Prague office of UK firm Cameron McKenna has expanded with the addition of four Czech lawyers. This brings the total to 20 and four paralegals. The office's new senior Czech partner is Petr Skacel, formerly of UK rival Lovell White Durrant and most recently of his own firm. Skacel is a former London consul for Czechoslavakia, and specializes in company and commercial law and commercial litigation. He is joined by three other Czech lawyers: Veronika Nezvalova, Milos Mastny and Lucie Motejzikova.

French firm Bureau Francis Lefebvre has merged its Spanish operations with three Spanish firms. The new firm begins operations in Madrid on October 1 1997. The three Spanish firms are: Briones, Alonso & Martin; Rodes & Sala and Rubio & Carretero. The firm will be known as Briones, Alonso & Martin-Bureau Francis Lefebvre. Partners at the Spanish firms will eventually be integrated into the Lefebvre worldwide partnership. "It is a merger, but it will be spread over time," says Pierre-Sebastien Thill, a partner at Lefebvre in Paris. "There are increasing movements from France to Spain. We want to be able to provide a service to clients, but also to get Spanish clients."