FINANCIAL SERVICESGroups of insurance companies and banks operating so-called 'financial conglomerates' in co-operation with insurance companies may be subject to more supervision if a new draft European law is implemented.

The new Directive would oblige European insurance supervisory authorities to ensure that the solvency of an individual insurance company was not undermined through involvement with a group.

The Directive, which would complement existing European legislation in the insurance sector, would ensure that information on insurance companies operating in a group was more easily accessible and exchangeable between supervisory authorities where necessary.

It would also require that intra-group transactions between companies in the group would have to be reported to the authorities at least once a year.

The authorities would be required to put an end to 'double gearing' -- where several companies in the same group count the same capital more than once for the purpose of covering minimum regulatory capital requirements.

ENVIRONMENTThe green legislative programme is hotting up with a battery of new measures.

First is a draft Directive on 'movers and diggers', which aims to reduce emissions of nitrogen oxide produced by non-road machinery such as bulldozers and combine harvesters.

This would complement EU regulations already in place which set maximum targets for road vehicles.The Commission is proposing implementation in two phases to enable industry to adjust.

The first period would start in June 1997 and end in December 1998; the second would start in 2001 and end in 2003.

Two other measures believed to be in the pipeline include a new law on environmental impact assessment, which would ensure that a strategic environmental assessment is undertaken before national programmes are agreed, and a measure obliging planning authorities when drawing up plans to take account of the cumulative effect on the environment of a number of smaller projects.

Environment ministers recently reached agreement on two draft Directives -- one on the landfill of waste and a second on schemes to exchange information on the pollution of the ambient air in member states.

COMPETITION POLICYThe European Commission has produced a guide to the motor vehicle block exemption, which came into force on 1 October this year and which will apply until 30 September 2002.

The block exemption on the application of art 85(3) to certain categories of motor vehicle distribution and servicing agreements is aimed at strengthening rules preventing anti-competitive behaviour of car manufacturers.

The guide is written in a 40-questions-and-answer format in non-technical language.

BANKRUPTCY CONVENTIONThe impasse on the draft bankruptcy convention has finally been broken.

The convention is aimed at simplifying, speeding up and reducing the expense of bankruptcy proceedings when the debtor has creditors in several member states.

It will come into force on the first day of the sixth month following the deposit of the instrument of ratification by the last signatory state to take that step.

SINGLE CURRENCYThe City of London Law Society has submitted a detailed response to the green paper on the practical arrangements for the introduction of a single currency.

The respon se focuses primarily on the legal aspects of a single currency and the effect on financial contracts.

TRANSPARENCYThe council of ministers is to be more accessible to the public in response to criticism about secretiveness.

Ministers have agreed a new code of conduct governing public access to council minutes and the right to introduce last minute unpublished unilateral 'declarations' by a member state to Euro-laws.COMPARATIVE ADVERTISINGSolicitors may be subject after all to a draft Directive which would allow comparative advertising under certain stringent conditions.

An exemption for the 'regulated professions' -- which would have left it to the regulatory authorities in each member state to decide whether their members should be allowed to engage in comparative advertising -- may be removed.