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The country's restrictions on promoting offshore products are vague at best. Here’s how foreign marketers can solicit investors, without falling foul of the rules

Strong equity markets have prompted sellers to consider parallel exit routes. But as By Herbert Smith Freehills' Philippa Stone and Nick Baker explain, running two deals at once prompts legal challenges

Clifford Chance's Stuart Ure and Mark Dickinson describe how the wave of regulations brought on by Basel III has sparked further innovation in Islamic finance

Amid soaring foreign demand, the renminbi's transition to a global currency seems inevitable. But internationalising the market requires new infrastructure, and presents significant risks

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.