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

Panama and the UK have shared diplomatic ties since 1908. The US brought the highest amount of foreign direct investment (FDI) into Panama in 2018, with the UK coming in eighth position in the FDI stakes. The 2015 FDI figures saw the UK in fourth spot after the US, Colombia and Switzerland (with a total of 6% of FDI into Panama).

In order to maximise the potential of more than 15 commercial treaties that have been signed by the Republic of Panama, the country's Ministry of Trade and Industry has recently created a special office within the ministry called the 'commercial intelligence unit' (INTELCOM). This unit will provide knowledge to Panamania-based companies, including on what products the main commercial partners of the country are importing, who their main suppliers are, and details of opportunities that national products have under the commercial treaties. The main objective of INTELCOM will be to gather commercial intelligence relating to foreign trade, in order to efficiently reorientate Panama's productive strategies and decision making, in actions to support export development. INTELCOM will also develop business intelligence through different tools such as market research and interviews with local exporters and Panama's embassies and consulates throughout the world. This valuable information will be processed, analysed, interpreted and disseminated, in order to take advantage of business opportunities that have been identified and may be developed in Panama. INTELCOM will also oversee the strengthening of technology transfer related to the production and commercialisation permitted under the commercial treaties, in order to increase the productivity and competition of the private sector in Panama.

New laws in key offshore jurisdictions came into force at the beginning of 2019 which require entities engaging in specific types of business to demonstrate adequate economic substance in that jurisdiction. Failure to comply with substance requirements could lead to grave consequences, such as incurring significant fines or being struck off by local registries.

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