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Ros Wright, general counsel and director of policy, the Securities and Futures Authority, talks to Richard Forster

The High Court recently held in Possfund Custodian Trustee v Diamond that it is arguable that those responsible for the issue of a company's prospectus owe a duty of care not only to initial subscribers but also to subsequent purchasers of thatcompany's shares in the market. Shares in Diamond Group Holdings (Diamond) were placed on the Unlisted Securities Market in April 1989. Most of the plaintiffs were subscribers but some had also made subsequent purchases of Diamond's shares on the USM. These later purchases took place in the 'after market', the period (in this case two-and-a-half months) after the placing during which the most recent published financial information on Diamond remained that found in the prospectus.

With the adoption of a Communication by Sir Leon Brittan and Karel van Miert, the trade and competition commissioners, the European Commission has proposed the establishment of an international framework of competition rules. The Communication, which must still be presented to the Council, calls on the WTO ministerial conference in Singapore in December to agree to study, from 1997, the possibility of an international framework of competition rules.

The following is a summary of recent developments:

The Spanish government has recently approved a package of measures introducing important changes in the financial field.

From January 1 1996, the system of standard tariffs for motor vehicle liability insurance has been replaced by the latest revision of the Federal Law on the Supervision of Private Insurance Companies (Insurance Supervisory Law, ISL). This revision abolished a 20 year-old mandatory system of a single standard tariff for all motor vehicle liability insurers in Switzerland. Now, motor vehicle liability insurers are free to fix a tariff, thereby becoming a non-restricted insurance business.

The Trust (Amendment No. 3) (Jersey) Law, 1996, which was adopted by the States of Jersey on November 21 1995 and sanctioned by Her Majesty in Council on April 24 1996, was registered in the Royal Court and came into force on May 24 1996.

The Legislative Decree adopted on May 15 1996 by the Council of Ministers (the Decree) to implement EU Directives 93/22/EC (on Investment Services) and 93/6/EC (on Capital Adequacy) will, among other things, introduce substantial reform aimed at privatizing Italian regulated markets (the stock exchange, over-the-counter, futures and options markets). The Decree is now being submitted to the relevant parliamentary committee for its opinion, which, however, is not binding.

Irish company law requires Irish companies to maintain registers of shareholders and debenture holders. Transfers must be in a statutory form and stamp duty is payable. Technological development in general and the introduction of CREST in particular have resulted in the Companies Act 1990 (Uncertificated Securities) Regulations 1996 ('the Regulations').

The Finnish Council of State recently published a bill regarding the further implementation of the EU Directive on undertakings for collective investment in transferable securities (UCITS; 85/611/EEC) in order to improve and maintain the international competitiveness of Finnish investment funds.