Local Insights

After ratification of the first sustainable investment facilitation agreement, between the EU and Angola, Carla Gonçalves Borges, Mariana França Gouveia, and Assunção Cristas of Vieira de Almeida analyse ESG considerations in African states’ investment treaties

ESG considerations are becoming an increasingly important factor in investment decisions in Ghana. Lady-Ann Essuman, Ewurama Osam Tawiah, and Verissa Odame-Koranteng of VINT & Aletheia, Attorneys and Consultants explain why, and how, the new reality should be embraced

As the financial services ecosystem in Nigeria continues its rapid development, DealHQ Partners provides a guide to the latest regulatory initiative regarding contactless payments

Yasuyuki Kuribayashi, Yuko Toyoda, and Kazuki Mochizuki of City-Yuwa Partners provide a guide to the sustainability-related information to be recorded in annual securities reports and the recent publication of Japan’s inaugural sustainability disclosure standards

Medha Marathe, Latham & Watkins

Bruno Almeida and Daniel de Senna Fernandes of Riquito Advogados provide an update on the development of Macau’s digital currency, which presents several issues but paves the way for new fintech entrants

With regulatory scrutiny intensifying, experts at Vieira de Almeida & Associados examine how legal teams must ensure ESG claims are accurate to mitigate greenwashing risks, litigation, and regulatory penalties

Elena Papachristou and Maria-Roxani Karydi of Papapolitis & Papapolitis highlight the key updates under the EU Listing Act package and an imminent enactment of a new law on the bolstering of the Greek capital market

Evi Tsilou and Vicky Koutsopoulou of Papapolitis & Papapolitis analyse Greece’s new gender balance law, which implements the EU’s Women on Boards Directive and introduces strict reporting requirements and penalties for non-compliance

The Regulatory Unit (Unidad de Regulación Financiera or URF) of the Ministry of Finance and Public Credit has issued several decrees with the purpose of harmonising Colombian capital requirement regulations applicable to banking institutions with the capital requirement regulations included in Basel III.

The executive branch of the Panamanian government has presented a Bill to the Legislative Assembly for the formal creation of a public-private partnership (PPP) regime in Panama. The Bill was approved in the first of three debates required within the Legislative Assembly for its final approval.

The Brazilian oil and gas sector does not frequently use project financing and debt capital markets (DCM) to fund its activities unlike in other Brazilian capital-intensive sectors (for example, energy and toll roads) or in other oil markets (for example, onshore US). This results in reduced capital returns and creates difficulties for independent oil companies. Two recent regulations may change this situation.

Simone Del Nevo and Rahul Sud, ASAR – Al Ruwayeh & Partners

Ezekiel Tuma, John Cunha, and Luis Cunha, ASAR – Al Ruwayeh & Partners

Ragy Soliman, Ahmed Abdelgawad, and Ibrahim ElGengehy, Adsero – Ragy Soliman & Partners

Robert Katz and Charles Ruck, Latham & Watkins

Robert M Katz and Charles Ruck, Latham & Watkins

More US buyers – and more buyer-friendly deal terms – are entering the seller-friendly UK market, although the picture is increasingly nuanced, say Joshua M. Dubofsky, Sam Newhouse, Jennifer N. Cadet, and Catherine Campbell