Hispanic Latino Team Blog : Hispanic Latino Business Lawyers & Attorneys : Sheppard Mullin Law Firm : Cross Border Transactions, Government Contracts

By Daniel L. Brown & Giselle Rivers

On May 27, 2010, the Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit affirmed in part and remanded in part a district court's decision certifying class actions against the Republic of Argentina and granting over $2 billion in damages to eight classes of plaintiffs.  Puricelli v. The Republic of Argentina, No. 09-0332, 2010 WL 2105132 (2nd Cir. May 27, 2010)("Puricelli"). While the Court of Appeals concluded that class certification was appropriate, it held that the district court erred in entering aggregate class-wide relief, as opposed to determining individual relief.

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By Keith Gercken and Dawn Mayer

On February 4, 2010, the Department of Treasury signed a new income tax treaty with Chile, signifying a milestone for both countries. The treaty has not yet been ratified, but if approved by the U.S. Senate, would become the first income tax treaty between the U.S. and Chile and only the second U.S. income tax treaty with a South American country (a treaty with Venezuela was signed in 1999).
 

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By Donald Klawiter and Jennifer Driscoll-Chippendale

This article is the first in a three-part series on multi-jurisdictional cartel investigations. 

In a break from traditional enforcement trends, two recent events underscore the importance of antitrust compliance training for companies located or doing business in Mexico and Latin America. First, in November 2008, the European Commission announced that several cement companies, including Cemex, a global building materials company headquartered in Mexico, were under investigation for violating Article 81 of the EC Treaty, which prohibits cartel behavior. In May 2009, Mexico’s Federal Competition Commission joined the probe, wreaking further havoc on Cemex’s precarious financial position. Second, in February 2009, the Brazilian Ministry of Justice, in conjunction with the U.S. Department of Justice and the European Commission, took the lead in an antitrust investigation of compressor makers, including Empresa Brasileria de Compressores S.A.-Embraco and Tecumseh do Brasil Ltda. The scope of the Brazilian inquiry was unprecedented, with nearly 60 federal police agents, Justice ministry officials and state prosecutors working to serve six search warrants in Sao Paolo and Santa Catarina and gather evidence of wrongdoing.  
 

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By Bram Hanono

In July 2007, President Felipe Calderon launched the National Infrastructure Program ("NIP") to increase coverage, quality, and competitiveness of Mexico's infrastructure. Through infrastructure investment, Mexico is seeking to advance its regional and global standing. The NIP, slated for 2007 through 2012, calls for approximately US$230 billion, comprised of federal and private investment, to finance 480 infrastructure projects. About half way through its duration, there are still ample procurement opportunities for U.S. Companies.  
 

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By Bram Hanono

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) recently announced the opening of its new post in Mexico City. The new post is the FDA's third post in Latin America and the tenth international post the FDA has opened in the past 13 months. The other posts in Latin America are located in Santiago, Chile and at the FDA's Latin America Office headquarters in San Jose, Costa Rica. The agency's other new offices are in China, India and Europe.
 

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By Gabe Matus

The current global economic crisis has spawned a recent wave of complex insolvency proceedings in jurisdictions spanning the globe. Add to the mix the increasingly global nature of business and economics and the result is that a debtor subject to an insolvency proceeding in one jurisdiction may likely have assets and operations in a number of other sovereign jurisdictions. Managing the interrelation between concurrent multi-jurisdictional proceedings involving the same debtor or affiliated debtors has been a challenge for court systems, debtors and creditors alike since the emergence of the global economy. As economists warn of continuing risks and concerns with regard to the global economic outlook,[1] the regime established under Chapter 15 of the United States Bankruptcy Code (Ancillary and Other Cross-Border Cases)[2] becomes increasingly relevant for creditors and debtors – both abroad and within the U.S. This article provides a brief overview of Chapter 15 and some of the issues relevant to parties-in-interest in cross-border insolvency proceedings.
 

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By Jerry Gumpel, Jeralin Cardoso and Larissa Calva-Ruiz

Introduction:

The type of transaction and the purpose behind the transaction will largely shape the focus of the due diligence process. Due diligence is about uncovering hidden risks and reducing further exposure. Whether the transaction involves the sale of a company or the purchase of assets, it is imperative to determine what you, as the Purchaser, are seeking to get out of the deal and to structure the due diligence review in a manner that will further such goal. The location of the company or the assets being purchased will also impact the due diligence process by determining which laws will govern your review.
 

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By Mauricio Monroy, Deloitte

On January 1, 2008, a business flat tax (flat tax), also known as IETU, its Spanish acronym, became in force in Mexico. The tax was enacted through a decree published on October 1, 2007 in the Mexican official gazette.
 

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By Margaret Mann

The globalization of the world’s business activities and the nearly universal adoption of capitalism as the world’s economic system have led to two related phenomena.   The first is the need for effective national economies to enact an effective bankruptcy law. Capitalism rewards the taking of risk, and the taking of risk leads to inevitable failures. The more efficiently the applicable bankruptcy system frees the assets trapped in a failed capital structure, the more economic growth can be generated from the asset. China, Mongolia, the Czech Republic are among the emerging economies that have realized this phenomenon and recently adopted a new bankruptcy law.
 

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By Mr. London, London Group Realty Advisors

Baja California’s easy access, proximity, great weather and warm culture have always attracted Americans to travel to its Mexican next door neighbor. Now, world class housing and hotels, and great real estate value, add to the allure for Americans considering investing or living in Mexico.
 

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The scope of authority vested in an individual by virtue of his or her position in a US company can be as confusing and unfamiliar to a person from Mexico as the use of powers of attorney in Mexico is to someone from the US. A US person about to form a Mexican company will be asked at the outset to whom powers of attorney will be issued, and the nature of those powers. More often than not US clients will be baffled when these questions are first posed as they will not understand why powers of attorney are required at all, nor will they be familiar with the different forms of power of attorney. Conversely, a Mexican client about to form a US corporation will be just as perplexed when told by her attorney that no powers need be granted and that the officers and directors can perform all required functions by virtue of the authority inherent in their positions.

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By Beni Surpin, Bram Hanono and Joseph Panetta, CEO, Biocom

Historically, the collaborative efforts between the U.S. and Mexico in the Biotech arena, separate from medical devices, have been at the educational level with informal collaboration projects and student exchanges. One of these, of course, initiated the founding of two well known biotechnology institutes in Mexico. In the late 1970's, a Mexican scientist named Francisco Bolivar participated in the development of the first genetically engineered protein and the development of the first cloning vectors at the University of California, San Francisco. He, along with Luis Herrera-Estrella, returned to Mexico to co-found and direct the Biotechnology Institute of the National Autonomous University of Mexico (UNAM) in Cuernavaca, and the Center for Research and Advanced Studies of the National Polytechnic Institute (CINVESTAV) in Irapuato. 
 

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