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The Russian government has announced an ambitious privatization programme for 1998 under which it plans to sell substantial equity stakes in 37 major companies of an estimated total value of over US$5 billion. The enterprises listed include such giants as Aeroflot airlines, oil company Rosneft, and pipeline operator Transneft. To implement the programme, Russia has adopted a new Law on the Privatization of State Property and on the Fundamentals of the Privatization of Municipal Property in the Russian Federation (Law No. 123-FZ, dated July 21 1997). The Law modifies some of the existing rules on the privatization of state assets, adopts new safeguards in response to past abuses, and contemplates the introduction of new players into the privatization process.

The merger between big six professional advisory and accounting firms Coopers & Lybrand and Price Waterhouse will bring together over 1000 lawyers worldwide, according to figures exclusively compiled by International Financial Law Review. The figures, gathered for the IFLRev 1000 Directory (to be published shortly), give an insight into the extent of the ambitions of the big six firms in the legal field. Alfred Fink, a lawyer in the Paris offices of Coopers & Lybrand, says: "This is the perfect mix. They are in locations where we aren't, such as Russia. Also, Price Waterhouse is very strong in Latin America, but we are stronger in Europe than they are."

• New York's Chadbourne & Parke LLP has made seven lawyers partners. They are: in Singapore, Bruce Rader (corporate and project finance); in Moscow, Mikhail Rozenberg (Russian practice); in Washington DC, Thomas Hechl (Russian practice and project finance); and in New York, Douglas Fried (project finance), Claude Serfilippi (corporate finance), Drew Wintringham (intellectual property) and Nancy Zajac (leasing).

The financing of projects in China is slowly but surely being made more attractive to international investors. Edward Lam of Shearman & Sterling, London, looks at the most recent measures

Recently approved measures allow the separation of principal and coupons of certain issues of Spanish government debt, as well as their subsequent reunification. These measures provide greater liquidity for the government debt market, as well as increasing the supply of this type of securities, allowing each investor to better tailor his or her investment portfolio to his or her needs in terms of principal, maturity and yield. Both individuals and corporate bodies can own these separated securities.

The Singapore Mediation Centre was opened by the Singapore Academy of Law on August 16 1997 to provide a full range of alternative dispute resolution (ADR) services, in particular private, non-court based mediation, as an alternative to litigation. At the launch, the Chief Justice said that "for businesses, litigation undermines their competitiveness by eating up management time and damaging business goodwill and reputation". Echoing the government's strong commitment to mediation, the Attorney-General's Chambers have recommended that future government contracts should carry a clause on the referral of disputes for mediation when appropriate.

Two new Acts of Parliament have introduced far-reaching reforms to the rules governing the privatization of state-owned companies in Poland. The first Act, of August 8 1996, abolished the Ministry of Privatizations, and, as of October 1 1996, transferred its functions to the Treasury Ministry. The second Act, of August 30 1996, amended the terms and conditions of the sale and privatization of state-owned companies. It came into force on April 8 1997.

Since November 1993, Brazilian financial institutions have been allowed to acquire non-financial asset-backed securities (non-financial ABSs) issued by Brazilian Special Purposes Companies (SPCs). These domestic non-financial securitizations have been successfully done under the terms of the National Monetary Council's Resolution 2,026 of 1993. The non-financial assets have been transferred by Brazilian originators to the SPC and used to guarantee ABSs issued by the SPC. Even in cases where the Brazilian originators were subject to bankruptcy proceedings, the credit rights of the ABS holders were not affected.

The merger of J&A Garrigues and Andersen ALT has accelerated the process of change in Spain. Defensive reactions have already begun and nothing will be the same again. Nick Ferguson reports

Fasken Martineau, London and Toronto