New Rules for Emergency Arbitration in Chile

01 September, 2023
On August 11, 2023, the Arbitration and Mediation Center of the Santiago Chamber of Commerce (CAM Santiago) introduced new rules on emergency arbitration (EA) to its domestic Arbitration Rules, through the inclusion of a new article 21 bis and a new Title IX (EA Regulation).  The EA Regulation will enter into force on September 1, … Read more

Peru adopts new leniency regime with significant changes for leniency applicants

02 August, 2023
On 6 June 2023, the Peruvian government adopted a new Law N° 31775, that amends the country’s leniency programme. Under the new law, immunity applicants – who previously enjoyed only immunity from fines – will now also be granted immunity from criminal proceedings for hard-core cartels. The amendment also decriminalises soft-core cartels and abuses of … Read more

Chile’s latest “National Lithium Strategy” seeks to promote state control and public-private collaboration

02 May, 2023
On April 20, 2023, Chile’s president, Gabriel Boric announced Chile’s new policy on the extraction and production of lithium, the “National Lithium Strategy” (the “Strategy”) (speech available here).  The Strategy is comprised of a set of high-level principles and general measures aimed at changing the framework applicable to the extraction and production of lithium in … Read more

Colombia and Venezuela agree a new Bilateral Investment Treaty, Venezuela’s first since withdrawing from the ICSID Convention

14 March, 2023
On February 23, 2019, Venezuela broke diplomatic relations with Colombia and gave Colombian diplomats twenty-four hours to leave the country. Four years later, on February 3, 2023, Colombia and Venezuela signed an unprecedented bilateral investment treaty (BIT) that evidences the marked improvement in their relations since the election of President Gustavo Petro in June 2022. … Read more

Third Inauguration of Lula as Brazil’s President

08 February, 2023
On January 1, 2023, following an extremely disputed presidential election, Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva took office as the President of the Federative Republic of Brazil. Although a popular Brazilian politician and former President for two consecutive terms (2003 until 2010), Lula’s third presidential term begins in a polarized political scenario. On January 8, 2023, … Read more

OFAC Issues License to Trinidad and Tobago Related to Venezuelan Gas

06 February, 2023
On January 24, 2023, the U.S. Department of the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control’s (“OFAC”) reportedly issued a specific license to Trinidad and Tobago to develop a major gas field located in Venezuelan territorial waters (the “Trinidad and Tobago License”). According to recent media reports, the Trinidad and Tobago License is “intended to enhance … Read more

Inter-American Court of Human Rights Asked to Issue Advisory Opinion on States’ Obligation to Respond to the Climate Emergency

02 February, 2023
On January 9, 2023, Chile and Colombia co-signed a request to the Inter-American Court of Human Rights (“Inter-American Court”) for an advisory opinion with the purpose of “clarify[ing] the scope of the States’ obligations … to respond to the climate emergency within the framework of international human rights law” (the “Request”). According to the Request, … Read more

The FNE’s gun-jumping investigation into GSK’s acquisition of Pfizer’s consumer healthcare business in Chile: when a joint venture is not a joint venture and why it matters

05 October, 2022
Earlier this year, the Fiscalía Nacional Económica (FNE), Chile’s competition authority, closed a gun-jumping investigation into GSK’s acquisition of Pfizer’s consumer healthcare business in Chile. The FNE reached this conclusion after a 2-year ex-officio investigation which was based on the erroneous assumption that the deal constituted an acquisition of joint control by GSK and Pfizer … Read more