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Avis Europe, the leading car rental company in Europe, has floated for the second time on the London Stock Exchange, at 124 pence a share. The company first listed in 1986, after which it was bought by a consortium led by Belgian group D'Ieteren.

Exchange taxes cut

A recent judgment of the Federal Supreme Court in Abu Dhabi has emphasized and expanded the Court's hostility to margin trading. This is the third in a series of cases dating back to 1990 relating to trading in currencies or commodities.

Amendment of monetary policy

The flood of US firms entering or expanding in the London market shows no sign of stopping. Atlanta-based Paul, Hastings, Janofsky & Walker LLP opened an office in June. New York's Cadwalader, Wickersham & Taft will open its office at the start of September. Cadwalader is being particularly aggressive in its strategy. Mitchell Sonkin, a member of the firm's management committee, says the firm is aiming to open with 15 or more lawyers , and hopes to expand that to more than 25 within a year. All but a few of them will be UK-qualified, he predicts. The firm's eventual goal is to have an office of between 50 and 75 lawyers, and Sonkin expects that to be achieved within three to four years.

Ernst and Young and a major US law firm are looking to move into the Canadian market. A source has confirmed that Ernst & Young is one of the firms behind an anonymous recruitment advertisement placed in a Canadian magazine. The advert, placed in The Ontario Reports on May 16, offers salaries up to C$400,000 (US$290,000) in a bid to poach "the best talent in Toronto" and states that "the firm is determined to quickly become a major tier-one firm". A source at ZSA Legal Recruitment, which placed the advert, confirms the agency is working for "a big six accountancy firm and a US law firm". Another source has confirmed market rumours that linked the advertisement to Ernst & Young. The firm has already displayed its interest in the Canadian legal market by developing a relationship with the Canadian law firm Donahue & Co. Rob Lord, vice-chairman of Professional Services for Ernst & Young in Toronto, refuses to confirm or deny the firm's involvement with ZSA. However, he does say that the legal market is of considerable interest to Ernst & Young, and indicates that the firm will make an announcement in the future. The other big six accountancy firms denied any involvement with the advertisement. The identity of the US law firm is unknown.

The Intergovernmental Conference, which had the task of reviewing the Maastricht Treaty, reached an agreement on a draft Treaty at the Amsterdam European Council on June 16 and 17. The draft Treaty is due to be signed in October 1997, at Amsterdam.

The German government’s discussion paper on the Third Act for the Promotion of Financial Markets will enhance German stock markets, investment funds and venture capital. By Thomas Paul of Oppenhoff & Rädler, Frankfurt am Main

The Federal Telecommunications Commission (Cofetel) published on June 9 a call for bids for fixed or mobile wireless licences, to be awarded by the Ministry of Communications and Transport in a public auction to be held later this year. The licences will be for 20 years, and are stated to be for 30 MHz or 10 MHz within the 1850 to 1990 MHz band, for 50 MHz within the 3.4 to 3.7 GHz band and for 14 MHz within the 440 to 450 and 485 to 495 MHz bands.

CITIC Pacific has sold its 8% stake in HongKong Telecom to China Everbright, a small business backed by China's state council, for HK$11.39 billion (US$1.47 billion).