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

Article 20 of Law 1882 of 2018 was very important for reactivating the financing of the 4G concession road projects, because it clearly stated the guidelines for calculating the termination payment in concession agreements in the case of early termination events caused by a declaration of invalidity. On August 30 2018, the Controller General filed a claim of partial unconstitutionality of the article before the Colombian Constitutional Court, arguing that this article contravened the prohibition of illicit enrichment, among other arguments.

In Brazil, the public enforcement of antitrust infringements is carried out by the Administrative Council for Economic Defence – CADE. Since Law 12,529/2011 was enacted in Brazil, such enforcement has increased considerably, boosted by CADE through the use of leniency and cease-and-desist agreements (known as TCCs).

The fintech ecosystem in Guatemala has seen a steady rise in the number of fintech startups and operational companies that provide alternative financial services in country. According to the Inter-American Development Bank in its 2018 report entitled 'Fintech Latin America 2018 – growth and consolidation', as of December 2017 there were four operational fintech companies in Guatemala. However, according to the Asociación Fintech de Guatemala, which was recently formed by various fintech companies, as of the second quarter of 2019 there were 16 fintech companies in Guatemala.

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