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A decision handed down in early May 2001 by Germany's highest tax court indicates that key provisions of the proposed regulations on transfer pricing documentation requirements have no legal foundation and are therefore invalid. (See articles on the proposed regulations by Alexander Vögele in the January and February 2001 issues of International Tax Review, pp. 38 and 17 respectively.) Further delay in issuing final documentation regulations may now be expected as the Federal Ministry of Finance strives to assess the impact of the Federal Tax Court (FTC) decision on its transfer pricing policies.

In a decision dated January 31 2001, the French Administrative Supreme Court ruled that the France-Poland tax treaty prevented the French tax authorities from levying the branch withholding tax provided by section 115 quinquies of the French Tax Code.

Dividends received by an operating Swedish company from a foreign company are exempt from Swedish corporate tax if the receiving company holds at least 25% of the voting rights in the distributing company at the end of the tax year, or it is made probable that the shares are held as a trade investment. The foreign company must also be subject to a tax comparable to Swedish tax (that is, a tax levied at a rate of at least 15%).

Globalization and changes in the economy are creating new opportunities for advisers and corporations in North America as long-term planning needs are reassessed. By Georgina Stanley

Kriss Bush has resigned from his role as financial director of Lehman Brothers in London and will this month be heading to Toronto to assume the role of senior vice-president of tax for Nortel Networks. The move sees Bush returning to the more familiar territory of hi-tech tax: prior to his appointment at Lehman Brothers last summer, he was group tax director with Cable & Wireless in London.

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The new US rules for withholding tax aim to substantially change the way that withholding tax is accounted for and administered. Will positive first impressions pan out? By Michael A Cashman, Morgan Lewis, London

DATE TYPE OF DEAL VALUE ACQUIRER TARGET HOLDER ADVISERS TO TARGET ADVISERS TO ACQUIRER ADVISERS TO HOLDER 25/04/01 partnership undisclosed Granada, Carlton n/a n/a n/a Granada - Lovells, London, Karen Hughes, Conor Delaney; Carlton - Slaughter and May, London, Tony Beare, Jeanette Lloyd n/a 26/05/01 disposal £2.4 billion ($3.38 billion) consortium including Apax Partners and Hicks, Muse, Tate & Furst Yell BT Clifford Chance, London, Robin Tremaine; Andersen Weil, Gotshal & Manges, London, Sarah Priestley, New York, David Bower, Helyn Goldstein, Martin Pollack Allen & Overy, London, David Lewis, Adam Blakemore 29/05/01 acquisition £300 million ($424 million) TotalFinaElf (TFE), Centrica Humber Power Ltd Midlands Electricity, British Energy Clifford Chance TFE - Denton Wilde Sapte, London, Jane Douglas; Centrica - Ashurst Morris Crisp, London, Richard Palmer, Alexander Cox Linklaters, London, Charles Hellier, Conor Brindley 01/06/01 share sale £110 million ($155 million) Unite Group Plc Unilodge Holding Company Cabot Square Nabarro Nathanson, London, Paul Beausang Herbert Smith, London, Howard Murray, Zoe Brown; Andersen, London, Martin Portnoy, Brian White Herbert Smith, London, Howard Murray, Zoe Brown 01/06/01 acquisition £1.2 billion ($1.69 billion) BSkyB Open BT n/a Herbert Smith, London, David Martin, Derek Hill In-house; Andrew Parker, Tim Shaw 01/06/01 acquisition £940 million($1.32 billion) Ti Automotive Holdings Ti automotive division Smiths Group n/a Lovells, London, Daniel Friel Allen & Overy, London, Michael McGowan 01/06/01 real-estate acquisition £280 million ($395 million) Scottish Widows New Square Park MEPC n/a Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer London, Anthony McWhirter Clifford Chance, London, Etienne Wong, Nina Buchan 01/06/01 tax leasing £500 million ($705 million) Railtrack n/a n/a n/a Clifford Chance, London, Michael Ehrlich, Nina Buchan, Clare McMath, James Plummer n/a 04/06/01 acquisition $1.65 billion Domtar Inc four paper mills Georgia-Pacific Corporation n/a Debevoise & Plimpton, New York, Gary Friedman, Pamela Boorman King & Spalding, Atlanta, Bob Woodward 11/06/01 IPO EUR 914 million ($781 million) Fraport AG n/a n/a n/a n/a White & Case, Frankfurt, Erich Michel 13/06/01 outsourcing deal £2.3 billion ($3.15 billion) Telereal - consortium of Land Securities/Trillium, William Pears outsourcing of telephone exchanges and other properties BT n/a Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer, London, Michael Thompson, Peter Cosmetatos Ashurst Morris Crisp, London, Susan Crawford, John Cruise; Andersen, London, Andy Rotheray, Lisa McKibben 18/06/01 notes offering $700 million n/a n/a Aetna Inc n/a n/a Davis Polk & Wardwell, New York, Harry Ballan 18/06/01 acquisition $2.9 billion Cedant Corporation Galileo International Inc n/a Jones Day Reavis & Pogue, Cleveland, Edward Purnell, Wade Wagatsuma Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom, New York, James Tandler, Katherine Bristor n/a 19/06/01 joint venture $2.2 billion Teco Energy Inc, Panda Energy International n/a n/a n/a White & Case, New York, Arthur Scavone, Helen Laval n/a 21/06/01 recommended offer £147.1 million ($207.6 million) Johnson Matthey Plc Meconic plc n/a Travers Smith Braithwaite, London, Victoria Nicholl, Jo Walker Herbert Smith, London, Neil Warriner, Nikol Davies n/a 22/06/01 acquisition £570 million ($807 million) General Electric Capital Corp National Mutual n/a Herbert Smith, London, Howard Murray, Zoe Brown PricewaterhouseCoopers, London, Jane Arkle, John Preston n/a

In response to the increasing focus of the UK Inland Revenue on combating serious tax fraud, UK tax consultancy WJB Chiltern has launched the Raid Protection Plan. The plan offers an emergency support service in the event of a raid by the Inland Revenue or HM Customs and Excise. Although it is aimed primarily at professional advisers such as accountants and solicitors, the scheme has the added bonus of then being available to those advisers' clients at no additional cost.