As perhaps THE person who started the current concern with modern FAR/JAR compliance. I made the first presentations to the Oil companies and Unions that described the true differences legislated by modern requirements as a way to establish the merit of safety in design. These presentations are the ones that helicomparitor and the EC-101 fanatics like to put down, mostly because their favorite helicopters do not meet them. The differences between the S-92 and its competitors is vast, because those other aircraft are grandfathered back to earlier, more lenient FAR requirements.
Well, the goose and gander meet when we discuss intermediates.
Current FAR is only met by the A-139, the S-92 and in the short future, the Bell 429. All other production helicopters (to the best of my knowledge) fall well short. The issue is not fuel in the belly, it is compliance with the fuel tank drop tests. And also flaw tolerance, bird strike resistance, turbine burst immunity, crashworthy cabins, stroking seats, high mass retention, HIRF shielding, lightning test compliance and a bunch of additional paragraphs.
This is a great debate, because it means that ppruners are starting to know the difference, and asking which helos have the best safety features. Next thing you know, they will start asking for them, and stop believing that safety means more intense training.