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On September 20 2017, the Ministry of Industry and Trade (MOIT) issued decision 3610A/QD-BCT announcing a plan to remove 675 business and investment conditions from the 1,216 existing conditions under its management for the 2017 to 2018 period. This is the MOIT's first move in response to the government's recent call for a comprehensive review and removal of unnecessary business conditions which restrain foreign investment and reduce national competitiveness. Since its issuance, decision 3610A has made headlines due to its unprecedented reduction of business conditions in the history of the MOIT.

Initial coin offerings (ICOs) are now the focus of both the public's and the regulator's attention. ICOs are a digitalised method of raising capital in which an organisation issues tradable digital units (tokens) to finance a specific project or to develop it further. They are exclusively used to fund early stage projects of startups, often without a clear track record and with unclear success probability. In the course of the offering, the investor receives a token from the issuing organisation in exchange for cryptocurrencies (for example, bitcoin) or standard currencies (also referred to as fiat money). Tokens are created on a blockchain and exist as tradable digital units on distributed ledgers as a part of a protocol. For example, the Ethereum blockchain provides not only the cryptocurrency Ether, but also a platform to write smart contracts on the Ethereum blockchain, which makes it possible for market participants to easily generate and issue their own tokens, mostly on the basis of the ERC-20 token standard.

Increased tax transparency obligations on private companies may actually make it easier to be IPO ready

China is burying itself under a mountain of debt

The Mexico City Airport Trust (Nafin) has issued a $4 billion green bond to finance a new international airport in Mexico City. The largest green bond ever to be issued worldwide, it is backed by a securitisation drawing from passenger charges at the existing Aeropuerto Internacional Benito Juárez and the planned replacement airport once it becomes operative.

Hew Kian Heong Michelle Li In China, Herbert Smith Freehills hired three new projects partners from Pinsent Masons. This closely followed the ending of the alliance between Pinsents and Chinese firm Hesen Law Firm.

The global economy is moving away from fossil fuels. But markets could be in for a shock when the well runs dry

Ireland is the latest sovereign to successfully launch a zero-coupon bond in the market, with reports pointing to demand 2.5x oversubscribed for the five-year notes.

The market is pondering what life after the benchmark will look like, including possible replacements and the impact on future and updated bond programmes

Sean Lacey Pierantonio Musso In Latvia – in the latest chapter of the long-running firm merry-go-round that has been the Baltic legal market in recent years – the local branch of Swedish firm Magnusson announced it has split from its former network and joined pan-Baltic group Glimstedt. Following the merger of its Latvia team Glimstedt & Partners with Ellex in February, Glimstedt had lacked a presence in Riga for the past eight months. Its new office is now managed by partners Aldis Kalinks, Ivars Kronis, Valdis Kronis, Agnese Medne, and Lauris Zubulis.