On January 10, 2022, Nicaraguan President Daniel Ortega was sworn into office for his fourth consecutive term, despite the United States and European Union allegations that the election was a “sham.”  On the same day, the U.S. imposed sanctions on Nicaraguan officials accused of undermining democracy. Over the past years, the Office of Foreign Assets … Read more

On 14 June 2021, a new merger control regime entered into force in Peru. Merger control laws have been in place in Peru for almost 30 years but these were limited to the electricity sector. The new merger control legislation (Law Nº 31112, approved by the Peruvian Congress in January 2021) has repealed the sector-specific … Read more

Alarmism would be excessive. However, recent judgments by the Brazilian judiciary call for a hint of caution when selecting Brazil as a seat for arbitration. Recent articles published in the Brazilian legal and general press have spurred a lively debate as to potential threats to the country’s development into one of the world’s leading seats … Read more

On June 30, 2021, Ecuador’s Constitutional Court (Constitutional Court) held that President Guillermo Lasso had the power to ratify the Convention on the Settlement of Investment Disputes between States and Nationals of Other States (ICSID Convention) without the approval of Ecuador’s National Assembly (the Decision).[1] The Constitutional Court also held that the ratification of the … Read more

During the first half of May 2021, the Mexican government passed a controversial amendment of Mexico’s Hydrocarbons Law and revoked over a hundred oil and gas marketing permits. These measures are part President Andrés Manuel López Obrador (“AMLO“)’s plan to reverse the energy reforms introduced by former President Enrique Peña Nieto in 2013, which liberalized … Read more

On 23 January 2019, after Nicolas Maduro began his second term as Venezuela’s president, the Venezuelan opposition leader Juan Guaidó proclaimed himself Venezuela’s “acting president” and swore himself as interim president of Venezuela.  Following Guaidó’s declaration, more than 50 countries, including the United States, Canada, several EU Member States, and various Latin American countries, recognized … Read more

On February 1, 2021, Mexican President Andrés Manuel Lopez Obrador submitted to Congress an initiative (the “Initiative”) to amend the Electric Power Industry Law. The Initiative appears to be part of the current administration’s plan to reverse the Energy Reform introduced by former president Enrique Peña Nieto in 2013 (“the Energy Reform”) that liberalized the … Read more

Bolivia has become the seventh state to ratify the United Nations Convention on Transparency in Treaty-based Investor-State Arbitration, also known as the “Mauritius Convention”. State parties to the Mauritius Convention commit to greater transparency in investor-state dispute settlement (ISDS) proceedings. Specifically, by ratifying the Mauritius Convention, Bolivia consents to extend the application of the UNCITRAL … Read more