Top 10 Finance and Banking Headlines from Europe During the earlier part of the financial crisis the European Commission approved State aid for troubled banks (eg Northern Rock) under “Article 87(3)(c) EC Treaty and the Rescue and Restructuring Guidelines”. Last week the Local Democracy, Economic Development and Construction Bill completed its passage through the House of Commons. New measures for foreign currency loans and foreign currency indexed loans. Hedge funds that have billions of dollars of assets tied up in the failed bank, Lehman Brothers International Europe (LBIE), received a setback last month when a judge ruled a planned scheme to distribute the assets could not be sanctioned by the court. In accordance with the principle of equal treatment specified in the Foreign Direct Investment Law No. 4875 of 2003, foreign investors may freely set up companies in Turkey. The Planning Act 2008 introduces a new regime for authorising sixteen types of nationally significant infrastructure project (NSIP). This entry focuses on one of these – electricity generation. In 2007, as a result of HMRC receiving information from five major UK banks with offshore subsidiaries, HMRC offered an Offshore Disclosure Facility (“ODF”) which was designed to allow those people holding offshore accounts to declare those accounts and put their tax affairs in order. There has been much discussion recently centered around the proposals of the European Commission for a Directive on Alternative Investment Fund Managers. The FSA accepts that PPI has an important role in protecting consumers’ repayments, particularly in the current economic climate. Much has been published on the newly proposed Alternative Investment Fund Directive (‘AIFM’) which if materialises in its proposed form would affect all fund managers in Europe who manage or market a fund which is not regulated in Europe as suitable for retail sales (effectively, any non-UCITS fund). | 
