Businesses in Australia have been on notice since June that the current Trade Practices Act landscape for regulating consumer protection and unfair business practices will be overhauled under the Australian Consumer Law from 1 January 2011. This article provides an overview of where Australian businesses' obligations will change. Read more.

The federal government has adopted its draft Act on Employee Data Protection. Among other things, this contains provisions on the implementation of compliance requirements and fighting corruption. Read more.

German law insolvency proceedings may be initiated by an application by creditors of an allegedly insolvent company. However, there has been uncertainty if such an application by a creditor is abusive if that creditor's claims are subordinated and if the creditor cannot expect to receive any payment from the insolvency proceedings. This article outlines the court's ruling on this matter. Read more.

In recent months, Japan has seen an increase in factoring and non-performing loan business. One key aspect of such business is the ability to assign claims. This article covers some of the more common questions that market participants have in relation to such assignments. Read more.

On 4 June 2010, the Supreme Court affirmed that borrowers' claims against non-bank lenders will forfeit after a court has approved a rehabilitation plan pursuant to corporate rehabilitation proceedings, if a proof of claim is not filed by the specified deadline. This article briefly compares corporate rehabilitation proceedings with the same position under civil rehabilitation proceedings. Read more.

The recent case of Go Dante v Bank Australia Creditanstalt AG concerned an action brought by the claimant against the defendant bank in respect of losses suffered on the claimant's investment portfolio, following the Asian financial crisis of 1997 and 1998. The Singapore High Court held that the defendant bank owed no duty in contract and/or tort to advise the claimant as to the prudence of his investment portfolio. Read more.

On 3 September 2010, the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) issued its response to feedback received during a public consultation exercise on proposed enhancements to the Deposit Insurance Scheme in Singapore. Feedback to the consultation exercise was received from both consumers and the industry. Some of MAS' proposals are discussed in this article. Read more.

On 12 September 2010, the Basel Committee on Banking Supervision announced that it had reached certain agreements that would fundamentally strengthen global capital standards. The Committee agreed to increase the minimum common equity requirement from 2% to 4.5%. Banks would also be required to hold a capital conversion buffer of 2.5% to withstand future periods of stress, bringing the total common equity requirements to 7%. Read more.

On 13 September 2010, the Determinations Panel of the Pensions Regulator determined that financial support directions should be issued against six companies within the Lehman Brothers group in respect of the Lehman Brothers Pension Scheme. Read more.

The European Commission is pushing ahead with its proposals for a Europe-wide or global tax. The Commission has issued a communication that supports introduction of a Financial Transaction Tax (FTT) at a global level and a Financial Activities Tax (FAT) throughout the EU. This article provides a brief overview of how the tax would work in practice. Read more.

On 5 November 2010, the public comment period will come to a close on the US Securities and Exchange Commission's ambitious proposal to reform how payments are made for the distribution of US mutual fund shares. Read more.