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In Chief Counsel Advice 201423019 (CCA), the IRS [Internal Revenue Service] rejected a taxpayer's attempt to mark to market mortgage loans held in a non-REMIC [real estate mortgage investment conduit] securitisation trust. It found, among other things, that loan modifications alone were not sufficient dealer activity. Unfortunately, the CCA's tangled analysis raises more questions than it answers.

The lighter side of the past month in the world of financial law

> Carlos Fradique-Méndez David Lopez Foreign financial institutions granting loans to Colombian financial institutions are increasingly concerned about the feasibility of securing such indebtedness with collateral granted by the Colombian borrower. This is because new international financial regulations demanding larger liquidity from financial institutions, imposing more stringent capital requirements and requiring additional collateral for specific transactions have entered into force. This allows the foreign lender to abide with regulations demanding collateral and to ameliorate the risk-adjustment value of such loans with admissible collateral. This regulatory and business need poses an interesting challenge under Colombian law. As a general rule, Colombian financial institutions may not grant collateral (or any type of lien that restricts its right to transfer assets) as security to a transaction unless an explicit exception applies.

Oene Marseille Emir Nurmansyah Indonesia passed a Geothermal Bill into law on August 6 2014. This new law revises Law 27 of 2003 on geothermal activities. Previously, geothermal activities were categorised as 'mining' activities. In this new law, geothermal exploitation is specifically set apart from the definition of mining activities. This development is significant, as mining activities are restricted in several forest areas, including conservation and protected forest areas. With the passage of the new law, geothermal exploitation may be carried out in such forest areas, where most of this energy source is located. Indonesia is located in one of the most seismically active zones in the world, the so-called Pacific Ring of Fire. The country has approximately 130 active volcanoes. Due to this high volcanic geology, Indonesia's geothermal potential is large; some estimate that it holds 40% of the world's potential geothermal resources.

Pedro Cortés Marta Mourão Teixeira The eighth Tourism Ministerial Meeting of the Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) was held in Macau, with the Macau SAR acting both as host and observer. Thirteen years after a similar conference took place in the People's Republic of China (PRC), Macau welcomed several tourism ministers and representatives of the 21 member economies of APEC, aiming to further enhance tourism in the Asia-Pacific region, where there are 22 of the 30 busiest airports in the world.

Hero Sinanidou-Sideridou An effective regulatory scheme had been much needed for the games of chance market in Greece. In March 2011, the Minister of Finance publicly announced that the annual illegal turnover of games of chance in Greece was estimated at about €10 billion ($13.4 billion), explicitly highlighting that this situation should be addressed by the Greek government. Law 4002/2011 reflected an initial attempt for regulation of this market. Since then, at least nine laws have amended or supplemented the basic provisions of Law 4002/2011. The role of market regulator has been undertaken by the Gaming Supervision and Control Commission (GSCC), an independent administrative authority established in 2012.

José Ramón Paz Morales The Honduran Commerce Code (1950) is a pillar of Honduran Law, and has undergone very few reforms in its lifetime. The key to its success can be attributed to Honduran legislators, who at the time of its creation, acknowledged the importance of having a legal instrument that would address issues involving domestic and international commercial transactions in Honduras, but that would also adapt to the constant evolution of mercantile activities. With these objectives in mind, Honduras hired famous international jurists such as Joaquin Rodriguez Rodriguez, who were experts in renowned jurisprudence such as the Mexican Code of Commerce and the Italian Civil Code from 1942. Once it became law, the Honduran Commerce Code was one of the most modern commercial laws in Latin America.

To reduce the public administration's indebtedness as defined in EU Regulation 479/2009, the Ministry of Economy and Finance can issue government bonds to raise funds. These can be granted to Italian regions for the repurchase of outstanding regional bonds with an average residual life of at least five years and an outstanding nominal amount higher than €250 million ($324 million) and for the early termination of associated derivative transactions.

On August 1 2014, the President of the Republic of Congo authorised the ratification of the Double Taxation Avoidance Agreement (the DTAA) with Mauritius. The DTAA was signed on December 20 2010 and will come into force in Mauritius on the date as specified by the Minister in a notice published in the Government Gazette.

Yuichi Miyashita The Financial Stability Board (FSB) is developing proposals addressing gone-concern loss-absorbing capacity (GLAC) for consideration and action at the G20's summit in Brisbane, Australia in November 2014. Although still under discussion at the time of writing, global systemically important banks (G-Sibs) may, in the future, be required to maintain a certain amount of GLAC to offset losses in the event such G-Sibs fail. The FSB has stated that GLAC is vital for authorities to have confidence and for private markets to recognise, that systemically important banks can be resolved in times of crisis without the support of public funds, while taking account of the differences in national resolution regimes. If the scope of GLAC covers senior debts that can be bailed in, a new bail-in mechanism will likely need to be introduced in Japan. The existing resolution regime, which was introduced in March 2014 through an amendment of the Deposit Insurance Act of Japan, only provides for bail-in mechanisms (write-downs or conversions of a financial institution's capital instruments) in relation to certain qualified preferred shares and subordinated debts.