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The Central Bank of Argentina (BCRA) has issued amendments that significantly loosen the country's system of exchange rate controls. The move signals the further liberalisation of the national economy and is expected to stimulate its capital markets.

Bassam Moussa In 1971, three teachers who had pooled $1,350 to start a coffee shop in Seattle needed additional capital to keep their business running. They ended up borrowing $5,000 from a bank. The start-up that they originally named Starbucks Coffee, Tea, and Spice was able to get the financing it needed to grow and expand, eventually becoming the Fortune 500 company we now know as Starbucks.

Jennifer Williams Corporate law firms have geared up for 2016 with intensive lateral hiring. The new year was young when PAUL HASTINGS announced it had lured partner and alternative lending specialist William Brady from Proskauer Rose in New York. Also in early January, DECHERT hired funds lawyer Timothy Spangler to its office in Orange County from Sidley Austin. Spangler, who held equivalent positions at Kaye Scholer, advises clients on the launch of hedge funds, private equity funds, venture capital funds, real estate funds, and funds of funds.

Oene Marseille Emir Nurmansyah In response to Rupiah's rapid decline in value, the central bank of Indonesia, Bank Indonesia (BI), has issued a series of regulations requiring that certain documentation be produced in foreign exchange transactions against Rupiah above a certain threshold.

The UK's new mandatory disclosure rules for unlisted companies are at best another compliance hoop to jump through. But at their worst, they could be a deterrent to investment.

Olivier Vermeulen Gabrielle Wong Benjamin Büttner It has been a turbulent 12 months for the Baltics, and on January 1 there was yet another twist in the legal sector's tale. The remaining lawyers from Borenius – following the departure of a team of 13 in Lithuania to Sorainen in September – across all three countries broke their ties with the Helsinki-based firm and joined together with Cobalt. This created the largest Baltic firm by headcount – around 180 lawyers – and severed the final formal tie between a Nordic firm and the Baltics.

Cyprus takes home the NPL prize The Cypriot government has passed a suite of legislative reforms in an attempt to confront the non-performing loan (NPL) problem plaguing its economy.

Bisola Olusoga The Nigerian Petroleum Industry Bill (PIB) is currently being considered for passage into law in distinct parts, each instalment dealing fully with the matters to which it pertains. It is understood that this piecemeal approach represents a policy measure for the convenient management of the controversies which have historically plagued the PIB. The first part to be enacted, the Petroleum Industry Governance and Institutional Framework Bill aims to create efficient and effective governing institutions, with clearly delineated roles within the petroleum industry. It will also establish a framework for the creation of commercially oriented and profit-driven petroleum entities and promote transparency and accountability in the administration of petroleum resources in Nigeria.

Is Alibaba's Jack Ma replicating Amazon's Jeff Bezos' successful Washington Post buyout in Asia? Or is it merely a pipedream?

The European Commission (EC), by its very nature, loves to harmonise. From integrated capital markets and bank capital requirements, to its restrictive shipping law; harmonisation is a validatory process for those sat in Brussels. It's not always the right process though. As this month's cover story (p26) by staff writer Lizzie Meager discovers, an EU insolvency regime is not the way to solve the headaches caused by disjointed jurisdictional systems.