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

Contractual relations between governments and the private sector are usually dictated by a strict set of rules and regulations, that are set in place as an assurance that the public interest is protected and that the public procedures are transparent and subject to the necessary advertising and competitive tendering requirements. In this context, the exceptional public health situation we are living in represents a true game changer, posing challenges to the existing legal frameworks and imposing upon governments the task to quickly adapt the regulatory system to provide answers to the ever evolving pandemic situation.

Gönenç Gürkaynak and Öznur İnanılır of ELIG Gürkaynak Attorneys-at-Law unpick the key aspects of Turkey’s merger control regime. A pending Draft Competition Law has now been suspended

In 2015, the National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC) issued the Circular on Promoting the Reform of the Filing and Registration Regime for Issuance of Foreign Debt by Enterprises, under which, both issuance of bonds and borrowing of mid-and-long term commercial loans overseas by PRC enterprises and/or their offshore subsidiaries and branches (collectively, the debtors) are subject to a prior filing and registration with NDRC (foreign debt filing). Over the past five years, the debtors as applicants encountered a lot of issues with regard to the foreign debt filing due to the ambiguity in definitions, scope and standards thereof. As a result, the NDRC issued detailed application guidance including 25 FAQs and respective answers in February 2020, aiming to make these issues clear.

Marcel Frey and Urs Feller of Prager Dreifuss outline the planned Zurich International Commercial Court, set to launch in 2027, and assess its potential advantages over arbitration for resolving cross-border commercial disputes

Markus Fellner, Florian Henöckl, and Elisabeth Fischer-Schwarz of Fellner Wratzfeld & Partners examine the latest Austrian insolvency trends, the economic and legal factors driving them, and the potential implications for businesses and creditors

Despite political and geopolitical uncertainties, the key components of a business-friendly environment are still in place in France and present an opportunity for further Chinese investment, say Raphaël Chantelot, Ran Hu, and Hubert Bazin of LPA Law

Decreased availability and increased costs of funding have altered the behaviour of borrowers and lenders in the Peruvian leveraged finance market. Thomas Thorndike of Garrigues highlights the main themes and considers the outlook

Rita de la Guardia and Patricia Cordero, Alemán, Cordero, Galindo & Lee

Jaime Trujillo Caicedo, Alexandra Montealegre and María Camila Vargas, Baker McKenzie

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