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The intensive lateral hiring of November and December continued into the new year in the US, another sign of a rebounding economy and widespread anticipation of strong dealflow in 2014.

As Islamic finance soars in popularity, IFLR examines which territory is leading the race to become the global hub for Shariah business

Reflecting on the Hong Kong Market Misconduct Tribunal’s first 10 years suggests it could be set for a more prominent role

Why permitting underwriters to buy stocks in the aftermarket can stabilise equity offerings

Adrian Roseti Initiated in late November 2013 and adopted by the Romanian Parliament on December 17 2013 (to be published upon the President's confirmation), the law regarding the purchase of agricultural lands by non-Romanian EU citizens is setting the ground rules expected for the past seven years, since Romania's accession to EU. Although the purchase of land by non-Romanians is not completely liberalised, the proceedings put in place are clear, swift and friendly for investors.

Gizela Tuhurska The use of email for personal use (such as visiting social network sites and online shopping) is considered the most frequent forms of abuse of company resources. Employers are battling this trend through more consistent enforcement of codes of conduct and by closely monitoring how their employees use work time and resources. This means that various monitoring methods are being put into practice, such as checking employees' web traffic and the emails they send and receive, and even the installation of monitoring cameras. However, as there is fairly strict legislation in Slovakia regarding protection of privacy and personal data, as well as mandatory provisions in the Labour Code, employers' hands are tied to a certain extent and these forms of monitoring can only be employed in compliance with strictly defined conditions. That legislation has been reinforced this year by the adoption of a completely new Act on Personal Data Protection and an amendment to the Labour Code, which expressly governs the matter of monitoring employees in the workplace. Under existing legislation, employers can only employ monitoring in the workplace if there is a compelling reason, whether in respect of protecting the company's property, if the employee handles the company's production technology, or for the sake of safety in technologically difficult production processes. Although the consent of employee representatives (trade unions or works council) is not required for installing a monitoring system, by law the employer must consult them on this matter. Furthermore, no monitoring system can be put into place without notifying the employees as to the extent of the monitoring, how it will be conducted and how long it will last. There are no specifics as to how employees should be notified, but practice has shown that it is best to put it in writing as an internal guideline which all the employees will sign as proof they were made aware of it. That way, in the event of a law suit or an inspection by the Office for Personal Data Protection of the Slovak Republic, the employer will be able to demonstrate that it notified the employees in compliance with law.

The Financial Services Act 2013 (FSA – a consolidation of the Banking and Financial Institutions Act 1989, Payment Systems Act 2003, Insurance Act 1996 and Exchange Control Act 1953) came into force on June 30 2013. The FSA gives Bank Negara Malaysia (the Malaysian Central Bank – BNM) increased supervisory powers and flexibility to deal with risks – much needed in today's challenging global financial system.

Antonio Felix de Araujo Cintra 2014 has started, and with it a new wave of projections, predictions and, why not use the proper name, guesses for the global economy and markets. In this article I will join the wagon and offer some ideas as to what will happen in Brazil this year. This year promises to be one to ring the changes, in which a late carnival, the FIFA World Cup in June and July, and presidential elections in October (and, depending on the outcome of the first round, again in November) may cause the economy to move at a slow pace.

Carlos Fradique-Mendez Laura Villaveces Hollmann Although the term green shoe came to be known in international markets more than 70 years ago, when the Green Shoe Manufacturing Company first implemented an over-allotment option as a price stabilisation mechanism in a Colombian offer, no such mechanisms have ever been fully implemented until very recently. In May 2013, Colombian cement company Cementos Argos, used a price stabilisation mechanism for the first time in its preferred share offer, which totalled 1.6 billion pesos ($800,000) after transaction managers exercised a green shoe option. The green shoe option was allowed in this transaction by the Colombian regulator in light of the particularities of the structure, including the fact that the offer was structured as a simultaneous offer, and was implemented as a two-tranche process.

Republic Act 10607 (RA 10607), a law which amends the Insurance Code of the Philippines (Presidential Decree 612, PD 612), recently took effect.