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Baker & McKenzie has dramatically enlarged its Paris tax group by hiring a team of 11 tax lawyers from Andersen Legal. The team includes one international partner, Véronique Millischer, one local partner, Patrick Philip, and four senior associates. Millischer, who joined the law firm at the beginning of September, is leading the group.

Versatel, the Dutch telecom network company, is restructuring its debt. About ?1.7 billion in Versatel bonds will be converted into cash and common shares, and exchanged for debt. Approval by a court in Amsterdam is expected in October. Shearman & Sterling is representing Versatel, with tax partner Bernie Pistillo and associate Lars Jensen advising. Both lawyers are in the London office.

Until 2001, capital gains obtained by foreign residents through the Mexican Stock Exchange (that is, individuals or corporations) were tax-exempt provided the transaction complied with certain formalities (for example, the shares are allocated among public investors).

The EU trade war with the US took another step forward in August when the European Commission revealed its list of US products that could potentially be subject to countermeasures.

Singapore has simplified its stock-option system, so that Singapore-based foreign workers exercising their stock options after they leave their jobs will be treated for tax purposes as though they exercised them when they leave employment. The revenue will refund the difference if the gains are lower than deemed when actually exercised. This makes it easier for both employers and employees, as previously employers had been forced to track foreign employees when they left the country until they exercised their stock options.

The Brazilian government has attempted to help hard-up manufacturers by ending cumulative taxes on companies.

EU commissioner Frits Bolkestein has expressed his dissatisfaction with Switzerland's continued resistance to the EU savings tax package. Switzerland proposed a retention tax on savings of EU residents, but the EU has rejected this as inadequate because it wants the country to agree to exchange of information provisions. Bolkestein stressed that though applying sanctions of some sort was a possibility, it was too early to speculate. He is due to report on the negotiations on October 8 this year.

Singapore and Russia have signed an agreement for avoiding double tax and income tax evasion. The signing took place in Moscow and was announced on September 9. The agreement intends to ease the cross-border flow of trade, investment, financial activities and technical know-how between Singapore and the Russian Federation, as well as alleviating double taxation. There are also provisions for reducing or exempting tax on certain types of income.

The Institute of Directors is urging the UK government to change its tax policy. Its survey of UK business leaders indicates that business is concerned about the government's fiscal policy.

The flood-hit Czech Republic has proposed a tax reform package to attempt to raise vital funds for rebuilding the country. The government wants to raise around CZK10 billion ($326 million) through the emergency measures that would cover around one-third of the estimated costs of repairs. Over the course of this summer the country has seen its worst flooding in more than a century.