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UK law firm Freshfields has opened an office in Amsterdam, and recruited four lawyers from major Dutch firms. Three of the lawyers are from Stibbe Simont Monahan Duhot, including tax specialist Charles Langereis. The remaining lawyer is from de Brauw Blackstone Westbroek, the Dutch Linklaters & Alliance member.

The Chairman and Deputy Chairman of KPMG in Canada have resigned following weeks of controversy involving the firm. J Spencer Lanthier and D Hugh Bessell were closely involved in negotiations that would have led to the merger of the Canadian branch of KPMG with big five rival Arthur Andersen. When the merger broke down, the two felt that they had no option but to resign.

Regional and district level lawmakers have used the opportunity to grant tax exemptions as a tool to attract investment to their localities. Since 1991, when the fundamentals of the Russian tax system were first established, a wide range of local tax incentive legislation has been put in place. While the basic principle of these various pieces of legislation is similar, namely to provide investment incentives for certain types of taxpayers, the mechanisms employed are often very different in character and have grown in sophistication with practice and experience.

Spain has become a platform for the establishment of international investments, both for foreign investors interested in investing worldwide and for purely Spanish groups.

Mayer Brown and Platt is advising UK-based GEC on the takeover of Reltec, a US telecoms products producer. GEC are paying $2.1 billion for Reltec, and also assuming $361 million of debt.

Towards the end of 1998, Congress approved Law 25.063 which included substantial modifications to the value-added tax (VAT) law, including within its scope "services provided abroad which are used or effectively exploited within Argentina". Until then only imported goods were subject to tax, and only services provided within Argentina were taxable.

Germany’s 1999 tax reform act, enacted by the legislature on March 19 1999, contains numerous changes to the taxation of domestic and registered foreign mutual funds. These amendments affect both investors and the mutual funds themselves. This article highlights the tax implications of the new law for foreign investment funds held by German investors.

New York firm Skadden Arps Slate Meagher & Flom is advising Chicago-based telecoms group Ameritech, on the disposal of its cellular business to GTE. The deal is worth $3.2 billion and is a direct result of Ameritech’s planned merger with SBC communications. The deal is contingent on that merger (worth $56 billion) being completed. The merger has yet to be approved by the Federal Communications Commission, but will not be affected by GTE’s merger with Bell Atlantic.

Herbert Smith, Nicholson Graham & Jones and Nabarro Nathanson are advising the Birmingham Alliance on the redevelopment of Birmingham in the UK. The Birmingham Alliance is the title given to three limited partnerships who will invest £800 million (1.3 billion) redeveloping the Bullring and other buildings in the city. The companies involved; Hammerson PlC, Henderson Investors, and Land Securities, aim to pool their existing investments and coordinate redevelopment of the area.

Danish law firm O Bondo Svane is advising financial services group Unidanmark on its merger with insurance company Tryg-Baltica. The deal will create one of the largest asset management groups in the Nordic region. The new company will be known as Unidanmark A/S, managing Dkr250 billion ($36.8 billion) worth of assets. The transaction will integrate Tryg Baltica’s central insurance organization and Unibank’s (a subsidiary of Unidanmark) insurance companies.