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Differences between US and English law have always been more apparent than real. The Gustafson decision brings the two even closer in respect of issuer liability. By Simon Gleeson of Richards Butler, London

The New Zealand Stock Exchange (NZSE) has launched a new managed fund (the TeNZ fund) which tracks the NZSE10 Index (the Index). The Index is a weighted index made up of selected securities of New Zealand's top 10 listed companies, by market capitalization, which has the principal purpose of providing a measure of price trends of those companies. The TeNZ fund is a passive fund which will own a diversified portfolio of securities in the same weightings as the Index with the aim of providing investment results that correspond to the performance of the Index. Investors will purchase units in the fund, and the units will be tradeable on the NZSE.

German law firm Deringer Tessin Herrmann & Sedemund has officially opened its office in Berlin. The firm had been working out of the city since February having absorbed local practice Pfeiffer Brandes Neumann.

After four years of negotiation French electronics and defence group Matra has reached agreement with UK counterpart British Aerospace to form a £1 billion (US$1.5 billion) joint venture company Matra BAe Dynamics. The new company results from a merger of the missile operations of the two groups and will be the largest missile manufacturer in Europe.

The Hungarian Ministry of Justice is considering a draft law for foreign lawyers in Hungary. The main elements are likely to be a requirement that foreign firms register with the Hungarian Bar and not just the Ministry of Trade, and that foreign firms form associations with local firms. Stephen Forster, of McKenna Ormai, Budapest (an association of a Hungarian and a British firm), says: "The proposals seem quite reasonable, although they are at an early stage." Laszlo Kopits of Weil, Gotshal & Manges, Budapest, says: "All lawyers recognize that the operation of foreign firms must be regulated, rather than the free-for-all which now exists."

The EU Investment Services Directive (ISD) is finally to be enacted into French law. Jean-Guillaume d'Hérouville and Pierre Gissinger of Gide Loyrette Nouel, Paris, discuss the changes to the regulatory regime

UK firm Wilde Sapte has appointed 12 partners, 10 in the London office, one in Tokyo and one in New York.

The EU Commission is pressing Austria to abolish anonymous banking. With the Austrian government stalling, the matter is likely to go to the European Court. By Friedrich Schwank of Law Offices Dr F Schwank, Vienna

General Motors, the US car company, has spun off its subsidiary Electronic Data Systems (EDS), the US software and consulting company, in a US$500 million transaction. EDS now has a listing on the New York and London stock exchanges.

Inco, the North American nickel company, has acquired Diamond Field Resources, the Canadian metals company, in a US$4.3 billion agreed takeover, the largest in Canadian history.