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Key industry figures have outlined the major trends impacting the asset management industry since the financial crisis, and what they mean for its future development

The European Commission’s decision to exclude pension funds from Solvency II-style capital rules has removed a potential hurdle to the investor-class becoming more active project financiers

According to the ECB's executive board member, Benoît Cœuré, a single resolution mechanism must be in place, if a genuine EU banking union is to be achieved. Here he outlines the key components required for the SRM to be effective

Ordinance No 06/2013/UBTVQH13 on foreign exchange controls was passed on March 18 2013, amending and supplementing Ordinance No 28/2005/PL-UBTVQH dated December 13 2005. The new Ordinance, which takes effect from January 1 2014, focuses on issues critical to investors, including: foreign investment into Vietnam; Vietnamese investment overseas; usage of foreign currency in Vietnam; and, foreign loans for residents. The State Bank of Vietnam (SBV) has prepared many drafts of legal instruments to implement the new Ordinance.

Anna Pinedo Five years following the outset of the financial crisis, the debate regarding regulatory capital levels for US banks only seems to have intensified. The US banking agencies released notices of proposed rulemaking relating to regulatory capital in mid-2012; these proposals were the subject of intense commentary. To meet G-20 commitments, it was assumed final capital requirements for US banks would be released by mid-2013. However, given new legislative proposals, and new recommendations from policymakers, the country seems to be further from any consensus regarding an approach to regulatory capital and prudential regulation. Recently, Senators Sherrod Brown and David Vitter introduced proposed legislation that would set Basel III aside, and require adoption of new capital requirements focused principally on common equity, or an equity capital ratio, and impose at least a 15% minimum capital requirement on large US banks. The bill also would require separate capital requirements for subsidiaries, and limit the permitted activities of banks and their non-bank subsidiaries. Although the bill may never receive the bipartisan support required for approval, it is nonetheless important in that it illustrates the continuing debate over too-big-to-fail institutions. It also suggests that perhaps the actions that already have been taken following enactment of the Dodd-Frank Act are not sufficiently well-understood.

Indonesia's Investment Coordination Board (BKPM) recently issued a new Regulation (Reg 5 2013) concerning Guidelines and Procedures for Licenses and Non-Licenses for Capital Investment, dated April 8 2013. The regulation presents new items that may impact new investment for establishing a foreign investment company as well as existing foreign investment companies (known as PMA companies:basically Indonesian incorporated companies that have one or more foreign direct shareholders).

Akiko Tomiyama On April 16 2013, the Financial Services Agency of Japan (FSA) submitted the Bill for Amendment of the Financial Instruments and Exchange Act, etc. to the ordinary Diet session. It was indicated that the main purpose of the bill is to put in place measures against insider trading and market fraud, measures against financial crises that originate from market disruption, and measures to strengthen the functions of the financial and capital markets and the financial industry in Japan. The bill includes amendments to many finance-related bills, including the Financial Instruments and Exchange Act, the Investment Trust and Investment Corporation Act, the Deposit Insurance Act, the Banking Act, the Insurance Business Act, and the Trust Business Act. The main purposes of this bill are the strengthening of insider trading regulations, the establishment of an orderly resolution regime for financial institutions, revisions to asset management regulations, the encouragement of the provision of capital by banks, and the encouragement of the robustness of Japanese Real Estate Investment Trust (J-Reit) structures. The strengthening of insider trading regulations was proposed following recent insider trading cases, such as when a listed company made a public offering and information was compromised by an employee of the lead managing underwriter and an investor who obtained such information engaged in insider trading. In particular, the disclosure of inside information and trading recommendations made by corporate insiders who have inside information will be regulated under new rules. In addition, the monetary penalty for violations committed by asset managers with respect to their client accounts will be raised.

In an IFLR video exclusive, the Bank of England’s Andy Haldane reveals why nurturing the good parts of shadow banking will the next regulatory frontier

El Salvador enacted its Competition Law (CL) by Legislative Decree No 528, which entered in effect as of January 1 2006. Reforms to the law were introduced in 2007 to grant the competition authority more powers for the enforcement of the legislation.

Carlos Fradique Mendez Cesar Rodriguez A positive investment cycle and the consolidation of the country's macroeconomic framework have underpinned Colombia's sustained growth over the last decade. This was reflected in the investment grade rating in 2011 and the further upgrade in April 2013. Despite the significant improvement in Colombia's economic fundamentals, some issues remain pending in the country's transport infrastructure. In response, the Colombian government has launched an ambitious public–private partnership (PPP) programme with an estimated investment of approximately $20 billion, which is generating an unprecedented demand on local financing sources and the need to adopt new approaches to project finance. Institutional investors, supranational and international financial institutions are likely to play a paramount role: traditional sources of banking finance are fairly limited given the dramatic increase in financing needs.