Take-up rates by banks for government aid appear to be on the decline. The last four auctions under the Insured Mortgage Purchase Program have been undersubscribed, and there are other encouraging signs that things may be improving in Canada. Read more.

As the financial crisis prompts mass delistings, the Tokyo Stock Exchange has responded by easing the rules on delisting to help companies that may temporarily be in financial difficulty. Read more.

The Tokyo Stock Exchange has implemented its new remote trading participant system, enabling foreign securities firms to trade securities and derivatives in Japan without needing to establish (or appoint) a presence there, as previously required. However, some issues may remain. Read more.

The Financial Services Agency of Japan has requested exchanges in Japan to enhance their disclosure of information about short selling and, as a temporary measure, amended regulations to prohibit naked short selling and to require holders of short positions to report to exchanges through securities firms. Read more.

Click here for the full text of this month's Japan updates.

PLC Global Finance has published a Q&A guide on the causes, effects and regulatory impact of the financial crisis in Japan, contributed by Atsumi & Partners.

This article is part of our new series of Country Q&A Guides to the Financial Crisis, available on the PLC Global Finance site.

The Russian Government has amended the law governing minimum charter capital for new banks and minimum new worth (capital) for existing banks and other credit organisations. Banks failing to meet the new requirements (as they enter into force) will have their banking licences revoked. Read more.

The government has introduced a new requirement to register rights to, and transactions with, aircraft. The new law aims to assist transactions, such as leasing or mortgaging aircraft, by improving the legal framework. Read more.

The Russian Government has published a programme of measures it intends to take in 2009 to counter the effects of the financial crisis on the Russian economy. Read more.

Click here for the full text of this month's Russian Federation updates.

Various European governments have recently announced plans to help relieve banks of the toxic debts on their balance sheets. Such assistance will typically amount to financial assistance and so will constitute state aid. To assist the situation, the European Commission has issued a communication on the application of the state aid rules to the treatment of impaired assets in the EU banking sector. Read more.

The FSA has condemned current branching arrangements saying that they leave supervisors in states hosting branches of foreign banks unable to monitor and/or act effectively against those branches if the bank is inadequately supervised in its home jurisdiction. The FSA has proposed a number of options to help address this situation. Read more.

The FSA has proposed legislative change in the UK and elsewhere to ensure that unregulated parent holding companies for financial services groups become subject to direct regulatory supervision so that they comply with prudential regulatory requirements. Read more.

The UK Government has published two pieces of draft legislation containing changes to corporate grouping rules (particularly with regard to preference shares) and foreign currency accounting rules. The proposals seek to help companies struggling as a result of the current financial crisis. Read more.

Click here for the full text of this month's United Kingdom updates.

The SEC has adopted a final rule making the use of extensible business reporting language (XBRL) mandatory for all US public companies. The requirement is to be phased in over a three-year period depending on the type of company. Read more.

The general terms of the Term Asset-Backed Securities Loan Facility (TALF) were announced in mid-February 2009. In March, the Federal Reserve and Treasury Department announced further details and the first loans were made on 25 March 2009. This update explains the latest developments in the programme. Read more.

As companies' share values have declined, many have found that their outstanding employee stock options are "underwater" or "out-of-the-money" because the exercise price is higher than the company's current stock price. Some companies address this is through option repricing. This article examines some of the issues to consider when determining whether to effect an option repricing and the type of repricing to implement. Read more.

In a recent decision, the Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals, relying on the plain language of the applicable sections of the Bankruptcy Code, held that the analysis of whether a contract is entitled to safe harbour protection should not be based on whether such contract trades in the public market or on an exchange. Read more.

Click here for the full text of this month's United States updates.