South African investors can count themselves lucky. If recent newspaper reports are anything to by, the Financial Services Board will soon publish for comment new laws which will regulate hedge funds.

From 1 July 2011, employees earning more than the new threshold of R172 000,00 per year will not automatically benefit from certain sections of the Basic Conditions of Employment Act, 1998.

Despite the international sub-prime crisis and a slowing South African economy, a significant number of mergers have been notified to the South African competition authorities this year.

The problematic regulations of 30 August 2010 relating to indemnity cover for registered health practitioners have now been repealed by the Minister of Health.

In cross-border contracts involving South African concerns and various foreign parties, most often one or other of such foreign parties are unfamiliar with South African law and the South African legal system.

Market disruption clauses are playing an increasing role in lending transactions in the South African market.

The European Convention and the South African Constitution differ in an important respect.

When establishing private equity funds targeting investments in Africa, South African fund managers are increasingly starting to look offshore.

The COMESA Council of Ministers has significantly reduced the maximum merger filing fee and introduced thresholds for filings.

Added duties have been placed on the board of a pension fund regarding the appointment and termination of the principal officer. The board is required to review the fitness and propriety of its principal officer annually.

In their recent publication "Unleashing Rivalry", to celebrate ten years since the introduction of the Competition Act, the competition authorities observe that they have played a pivotal role in reducing the high levels of concentration in the South African economy inherited in 1994.

International law firms in the UK and US have been chewing for many years on the chestnut of how to position their firms to capture the international legal services market in Sub-Saharan Africa.

The experience of South African companies in Africa - like that of other international investors - might be encapsulated in the expression "Africa has great M&A opportunities".

There has been much public debate about company laws as a result of the enactment of the new Companies Act of 2008; and, more recently, the release of the King Code and Report on Governance in South Africa ("King III"), which will become effective on 1 March 2010.

Initially BEE involved only the concept of "ownership"- usually in the form of introducing a high profile black businessman into the ownership of a company. Understandably, however, this did nothing to help the situations of the majority of black South Africans and led to "empowerment of the few" - and the "few" that did not really need it, at that.

The worldwide economic meltdown caught many businesses unaware. Gearing quickly became over-gearing, leverage -- instead of being a catapult for new -- wealth -- became a noose, and business leaders had to scramble to keep their companies alive.

South Africa is a biodiversity hotspot hosting possibly as many as 1 million species, many endemic to the region. The country is also extremely culturally diverse. Our indigenous communities have over the generations often adapted in harsh conditions. These communities acquire a vast amount of biological knowledge with regard to their habitats.

South Africa's trade and investment with the rest of the world, and in particular the rest of Africa, has grown rapidly since South Africa emerged from international isolation in 1994.