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On January 29 1998, the under-secretary of finance submitted a letter to the Dutch parliament in which he described the fiscal aspects of the introduction of the Euro. This letter will form the basis for the preparation of relevant legislation. The main conclusions are described below.

Homestake Mining is to form the third-largest gold producer based in North America with the takeover of Australian company Plutonic Resources. The deal is worth £384 million ($640 million). Plutonic is Australia's third-largest gold producer, and the deal is the latest example of consolidation among the country's mining companies.

Compaq Computers is to merge with Digital Equipment Corporation. The deal, valued at approximately $9.6 billion, is the largest in the history of the computer industry and will create the world's second-largest computer company after International Business Machines (IBM).

Glaxo Wellcome and SmithKline Beecham have proposed a merger that would create the world's largest pharmaceutical group and the world's third-largest company after General Electric and Royal Dutch/Shell. The deal is worth £100 billion ($160 billion).

The Internet Tax Freedom Act ? legislation seeking to impose a national moratorium on US state and local taxation of the Internet and electronic commerce conducted over the Internet ? was introduced in March 1997 in the US Congress by representative Christopher Cox, a Republican member of the House from California, and senator Ron Wyden, a Democratic senator from Oregon.

A comparative approach is adopted in this assessment of Italy’s realistic potential as a holding company location. By Piergiorgio Valente and Marco Magenta, Studio Associato Legale Tributario (associated with Ernst & Young International), Milan

The US Internal Revenue Service has signalled its intention to limit the tax advantages available to some hybrid branches. Joseph DeCarlo of Price Waterhouse LLP, and Alan Granwell and Dirk Suringa of Ivins, Phillips & Barker, Washington DC report

For the first time, Deloitte Touche Tohmatsu has released its worldwide tax fee income results.

An international group of investigators is said to be examining the tax affairs of global media group News Corporation. The rumoured investigation is thought to involve senior tax investigators from tax authorities in the UK, US, Australia and Canada. A spokesman for the UK's Inland Revenue would neither confirm nor deny the story, adding that the affairs of individual companies are never discussed. However a prominent international tax lawyer has told International Tax Review that even if there is as yet no investigation, the adverse publicity will probably ensure one.

A special report prepared by Christopher Fitzgibbon of Deloitte & Touche, London