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Pedro Cortés Marta Mourão Teixeira On January 14 2014, the Macau Monetary Authority reported that, according to the 2014 Report on the Index of Economic Freedom (the Index) drawn by the Heritage Foundation, the Macau Special Administrative Region (SAR) takes 29th place amongst the 178 ranked global economic systems, as well as seventh place out of 42 countries in the Asia-Pacific region, right after Hong Kong, Singapore, Australia, New Zealand, Chinese Taiwan and Japan. The score awarded to Macau's economic freedom is 71.3. Its overall score is quite higher than both world and regional averages.

Hogan Lovells’ Imtiaz Shah and Erin Kiem on why foreign investors are choosing joint ventures with local partners over traditional franchise arrangements

Bank and corporate counsel shed light on how European issuers and acquirers should navigate the abundance of new funding opportunities

The Banten power plant is Indonesia's first power project not to require government support for the obligations of state utility PLN under the power purchase agreement (PPA).

Nao Ohira The Financial Services Agency of Japan published proposed amendments (the Amendments) and started to accept public comments, to ordinances and other legislation relating to the Money Lending Business Act, on January 27 2014. The purpose of the Amendments is to exclude (under certain conditions) restrictions imposed by the Money Lending Business Act (the Regulations) in cases where a company makes a loan to another company belonging to the same group, and also in cases where an investor who owns shares in a joint venture business makes a loan to such business. Under the Money Lending Business Act, a person who intends to engage in a money lending business must be registered with the relevant government authority, satisfy strict conditions and abide by various regulations.

Exchangeables out of Asia are just as rare CP Foods' exchangeable bond was the first out of Thailand and the country's first equity-linked product since BTS Group's convertible in January 2011. Market participants have described exchangeables out of Asia as 'rare beasts.' Deal counsel had to get investors comfortable with not only a product from a new jurisdiction, but also its tense political situation given opposition leaders had promised to start a month of protests to shut down Bangkok from January 13.

A lack of prime RMBS issuance last year created a window for non-conforming and more bespoke trades. Here’s what to expect from 2014

China’s government might not allow its banks to default until it finalises its bankruptcy regulations for financial institutions

Andri Aidham Badri Putri Norlisa Mohd Najib Under the Labuan Financial Services and Securities Act 2010 and Labuan Islamic Financial Services and Securities Act 2010, the Labuan Financial Services Authority (LFSA) has recently issued its revised Guidelines on the Establishment of Labuan Mutual Funds, including Islamic Mutual Funds, which came into effect on January 1 2014 (the Guidelines). The issuance of the revised Guidelines emphasises the continued commitment by the LFSA to encourage the establishment of Labuan-based mutual funds.

Banji Adenusi In December 2013, the Central Bank of Nigeria released the guidelines on the implementation of Basel II/III recommendations of the Basel Committee on Banking Supervision, which implementation took effect from January 2014. While the timeframe for implementation of the minimum capital adequacy computation under Basel II rules will commence in June 2014, the banks have already begun a parallel run of the Basel II capital adequacy computation along with existing Basel I requirements. In specifying the approaches for quantifying the risk-weighted assets for the purpose of determining regulatory capital, the banks are required to adopt the standardised approach in relation to market and credit risks, with the basic indicator approach adopted for operational risk. Rather than adopt a sweeping endorsement of the Basel II/III accords however, the Central Bank (CBN) has modified the guidelines, taking into consideration the present realities of the Nigerian banking system. Credit risk modifications abound in the risk weight assigned to inter-bank transactions and exposures guaranteed by the Federal Government of Nigeria (FGN) or CBN, exposures to FGN or CBN transactions denominated in naira and funded in that currency, amongst others, which carry risk weight of 0%. Other modifications include exposures secured by residential mortgage loans, which carry a risk weight of 100%, compared to the recommended 35% in the Basel II accord. Unrated on-balance sheet securitisation carries a risk weight of 1250%, whereas the Basel II accord provides no risk weight for such transaction.