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Esin Attorney Partnership's Muhsin Keskin on how the country's comprehensive capital markets reforms will cause fundamental shifts in local primary markets

Jan Willem Möller of Loyens & Loeff analyses why the country is emerging as the eurozone’s hub for dim sum bonds

Hong Kong has certainly advertised its advantages as an international listing destination. But Japanese retailer Fast Retailing's listing of Hong Kong Depositary Receipts (HDRs) has highlighted the problems with the HDR regime, and more broadly, its rules for overseas company listings.

Besnik Duraj The new Albanian government, formed after the 2013 general elections, has already fulfilled one of its election promises: the reform of the Albanian tax system from flat tax to tiered rates. Significant amendments have been introduced in the national laws on income tax, national taxes, tax procedures, excise, local taxes, value-added tax, the hydrocarbon tax system, and health contributions. The most important changes as of January 1 2014 are briefly presented below.

Sudish Sharma Sonia Abrol Since liberalisation, India has been an attractive destination for most international brands. From time to time, the Indian Government reviews foreign direct investment (FDI) limits when FDI is allowed in new sectors, whereas limits of investment in the existing sectors are modified according to economic conditions and considerations. One sector that has drawn a lot of interest and attention is single-brand retailing, which was significantly liberalised in 2012 but was attached with several onerous conditions, such as local sourcing from small vendors. The extant FDI policy of India on single-brand retail envisages that each investor in this sector will sell products of a single brand only, whereas several multinational groups own multiple brands under a single entity or investment group. Foreign investors argue that having separate companies for each brand creates operating complexities, in some cases making the Indian venture unviable.

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.

In 2013, Mauritius proceeded with the inauguration of a modern state-of-the-art passenger terminal at Sir Seewoosagur Ramgoolam International Airport. The new terminal, which covers a total surface area of 57,000 m2, will enable the country to handle 4 million passengers annually (against 2.7 million presently), whilst helping to project Mauritius on the international scene and boost commercial exchanges and the tourism industry. The main idea is to provide the latest in terms of infrastructure in order to increase the number of foreigners entering Mauritius.

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.

Martin Irwin, Baker & McKenzie Howard Lam, Latham & Watkins SLAUGHTER AND MAY finally broke its lateral hire deadlock by recruiting directly into partnership for the first time in its 125-year history. This piece of history happened in Hong Kong through the hire of Morrison & Foerster's (MoFo) co-head of China capital markets John Moore. Last month saw a string of other hires in the city-state. LATHAM & WATKINS welcomed banking partner Howard Lam from Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer, while HERBERT SMITH FREEHILLS brought in financial services regulatory expert William Hallatt from Linklaters. WEIL GOTSHAL & MANGES recruited investment funds specialist Albert Cho from Kirkland & Ellis, and DLA PIPER hired restructuring and insolvency partner Mark Fairbairn from O'Melveny & Myers.

Phung Thi Thanh Thao On January 3 2014, the Government of Vietnam issued the much anticipated Decree 01/2014/ND-CP (Decree 1) relating to the purchase by foreign investors of shares in Vietnamese credit institutions. Decree 1 replaces Decree 69/2007/ND-CP of the Government of Vietnam, dated April 20 2007, on the purchase of shares by foreign investors in Vietnamese commercial banks (Decree 69). In addition to banks, the new Decree governs finance companies and finance-leasing companies, providing more opportunities for foreign investment. One feature of Decree 1 is the increased ceiling on foreign shareholding permissible for different categories of foreign investors investing in a credit institution in Vietnam. In particular, while a foreign individual investor's shareholding remains limited to a maximum of 5% of the charter capital of a Vietnamese credit institution, an individual foreign organisation may now hold up to 15% shareholding (previously 10%), and a foreign strategic investor may hold up to 20% (previously 15%).