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The further erosion of investor protections is set to define this year's high-yield market. Here are the covenants giving issuers even greater flexibility

All the nominees for this year's IFLR European awards

What comes first – more deals or harmonised takeover rules?

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

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.

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.

In late 2013, the Slovak Parliament approved an amendment to the income tax act (the Amendment). One of the objectives of the Amendment is to fight tax evasion. Some of the most interesting changes are: higher withholding rate/tax security; the right to tax Slovak tax non-residents on certain transactions; introduction of tax licences; and, tax rate for legal entities reduced to 22%. Higher withholding rate

Manuel Follía María Lérida Due to the loan portfolios that financial entities have accumulated over the past boom years, a large number of Spanish companies are struggling with payment defaults and consequently facing debt workouts. Certain debt restructurings include so-called pre-insolvency arrangements (pre-concurso), a preliminary stage ahead of any potential formal insolvency process. According to section 5bis of the Spanish Insolvency Act, this stage allows debtors to temporarily avoid filing for insolvency if they notify the relevant court (within a two-month period as of being in a state of actual or imminent insolvency) that they have commenced negotiations with creditors in order to reach either: (i) an out-of-court refinancing agreement (acuerdo de refinanciación); (ii) an early composition agreement (propuesta anticipada de convenio); or (iii) an out-of-court payment agreement (acuerdo extrajudicial de pago). This notification will provide debtors with an additional period of three months to reach an agreement, plus one additional month to file for insolvency if no agreement has been reached.