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ISDA has endorsed the use of PRIME Finance arbitration clauses in standard derivatives documentation

For some time now, the US has been under pressure to regulate and enforce laws on offshore accounts. The biggest gun in the government's arsenal against undeclared offshore accounts came in the form of the Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act (Fatca), originally passed in 2010, that will take effect in July 2014. This new provision would require foreign financial institutions to report information about their US account holders to the Internal Revenue Service (IRS).

Bruno Marchese Peruvian regulations (Law 27287) allow for the issuance and acceptance of incomplete promissory notes as instruments representing payment obligations. The Law allows for such notes to be issued without having to set forth a specific payment date, or the actual amount payable under the note, and other stipulations that are typically included in notes and similar payment documents, but may be left blank in these incomplete promissory notes. The items left blank in the note will have to be completed by the creditor, upon the occurrence of certain events.

Why it’s right for activist investors to rely on the SEC rules allowing the disclosure of material information on social media

Ignacio Buil Aldana Act 14/2013, of September 27 2013, favouring entrepreneurs and their internationalisation (the Act), has introduced a wide range of reforms on several insolvency, corporate, tax and labour matters. Regarding insolvencies, the Act (among other changes) significantly reduces the quorum of financial creditors required for court-sanctioned refinancing agreements. It also includes a new out-of-court device in order for debtors and creditors to reach payment agreements binding dissident creditors. With respect to the court-sanctioned refinancing (the so called Spanish scheme), the Act lowers the 75% (of financial debt) support threshold required under additional provision 4 of the Insolvency Act to court-sanction a refinancing agreement to a mere 55%. Further, the Act clarifies that that quorum be superimposed on the quorum required for refinancing agreements under article 71.6 of the Insolvency Act (60% of total debt, including financial debt), in line with both doctrine and case law. This reform is aimed at facilitating Spanish schemes by simplifying and lowering the threshold to reach the relevant majorities. This, of course, may have an effect on existing and future Spanish restructurings even if other key issues such as the ability to cram-down secured creditors is still uncertain, despite relevant developments in this regard (such as the Celsa case).

Alternative credit providers are facing a laundry list of new restrictions to ensure they aren’t the root of the next crisis. This month’s three-part cover story looks at the key issues in the global shadow banking debate

Carlos Fradique Me´ndez Laura Villaveces Hollmann Colombia has made great stride towards contributing to the development of its markets. In particular, construction has experienced a boom in the past months as the sector grew about 16.9% in the first quarter of 2013 compared to 2012, residential buildings increased 14.7% and non-residential 21.8%. Maintenance and repair also grew 2.7% and construction licences 31.5%. All of which creates an interesting scenario, further supported by new regulations providing for useful real property investment models that are attractive to both foreign and national investors. Real-estate funds in Colombia were created rather late compared to international standards, and were only allowed since 2007. Yet the impact was not that great because of the regulatory restrictions that hindered their development.

In April 2013, the Act Governing Private Sector Participation in or Operation of State Activities (2013) was published. The Act supersedes the 1992 version, which presented several issues for parties wishing to enter joint investment contracts with state-owned enterprises. These issues include an unclear and overlapping authority of several government regulators, with the National Economic and Social Development Board (NESDB) refusing to play a significant role, and substantial delays and increased costs in project approval, with no clear definition of what constitutes a state-owned enterprise. In addition, the old Act does not provide for contract renewals or amendments, or the scope of discretion for project approval.

On July 22 2013, the new EU regime on licensing and supervision of alternative investment funds (AIFs) took effect, as Delegated Regulation (231/2013) supplementing the Directive on Alternative Investment Fund Managers (2011/61/EU) (the AIFMD) entered into force. Cyprus had already transposed the AIFMD into national law earlier in July, in the form of the Alternative Investment Fund Managers Law of 2013 (Law 56(I) of 2013: the AIFM Law).

The lighter side of the past month in the world of financial law