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The new law on pledges in Poland should give project finance and other asset-backed lenders the protection they have lacked in the past. By Tomasz Dabrowski and George Macdonald of Salans Hertzfeld & Heilbronn, Warsaw and London

Two recent changes to Vietnam's banking laws have been heavily criticized by foreign bankers. Circular No. 07/TT-NH1 dated December 27 1996 concerning bank cheques, which came into force on April 1 1997, imposes tight restrictions on the use of cheques within Vietnam.

In the largest ever leveraged buyout effected on the European continent, Doughty Hanson & Co Ltd acquired the Geberit Group. Doughty Hanson, acting as general partner of various limited partnerships, controls Geberit International SA which purchased the shares of the Group's parent company, Geberit Holding AG, from certain members of the Geberit family who had held all of the shares in Geberit Holding AG either directly or through four personal holding companies.

As mentioned in last month's International Financial Law Review (see page 56) a parliamentary committee has suggested a wide-ranging reform of the Companies Act, in particular proposing rules allowing companies to repurchase their own shares.

The Danish rules on netting are found in Sections 57 and 58 of the Securities Trading Act (STA) of December 20 1995 which entered into force on May 1 1996.

The long-awaited Mergers and Acquisitions (M&A) Law was finally passed by parliament in April 1997. The M&A Law is based on EU Directives and is fully harmonized with EU rules.

Four US appeal court rulings on Lloyd’s-related litigation have failed to resolve the issues. The conflict challenges part of the US securities law regime. By David Bernstein of Rogers & Wells, New York

SBC Communications of the US and Telekom Malaysia have formed a consortium to buy a 30% stake in state-owned Telkom South Africa. The deal will cost the consortium US$1.26 billion, and will be the biggest direct foreign investment in South Africa.

Tony Williams, who has been Clifford Chance's Moscow head for the last two years, will shortly relocate to London to begin the transition to managing partner. Williams beat off the challenge of London partner Peter Charlton in the second ballot of the whole partnership and has been given an extended mandate of five years compared to the three year terms served by Geoffrey Howe. "It was decided to change it to five years as it was felt that five years for an initial term was more appropriate for what is now a quite complex job," comments Williams.

Avoiding censure from the European Commission, France has dropped its restrictive practices on Eurofranc management and listings. By Gilles Endréo of Linklaters & Paines, Paris