Search results for

Oscar Arrús Over the past 10 years, infrastructure and public service projects in Peru have increased both in number and in size. These projects are mostly carried out through concessions: government contracts signed with private companies through which they are granted the right to operate such projects and receive the cash flows they generate. The start-up capital required to perform these contracts is usually provided by private investors, either through offerings in the securities market or syndicated loans provided by multilateral entities or private banks, and secured by the cash flow generated by such projects.

Carlos Fradique Méndez Adriana Ospina-Jiménez Leading global financial institutions, asset managers and multi-product investment advisers are among the foreign entities that are increasingly showing their interest in promoting their cross-border, financial and securities-related services to Colombian investors. These foreign entities are especially targeting Colombian pension funds, the most important institutional investors in the Colombian financial sector, as they have approximately $65 billion AUM and growing at a 25% rate per year. The growing interest of these foreign entities is mainly due to (i) Colombia's sound economic growth (preliminary figures indicate that real GDP grew by approximately 4.8% during the first quarter, 4.9% during the second quarter and 2.1% during the third quarter of 2012); (ii) Colombia's high level of foreign direct investment; (iii) its reliable legal framework (as indicated in the World Banks's Doing Business 2013: "Colombia is a regional leader in narrowing the gap with the world's most efficient regulatory practice"); and, (iv) the upgrade to investment-grade status in 2011 by Moody's Investor Service and Fitch Ratings.

Distributors of foreign QIFs must soon adapt to the revised Swiss rules. Here’s what they need to do

Forum shopping in sovereign insolvency proceedings, including NML v Argentina, reveals the need for an international insolvency regime

Stamatiou Costas On February 21 2013, the Cyprus Securities and Exchange Commission (CySEC) issued a circular addressed to Cyprus investment firms (CIFs) to draw their attention to the obligations attached to their freedom to provide services in other EU member states (host member states). The provision of services under the freedom to provide services means that a CIF provides services freely in the host member state without having a physical presence there, for example through its website. Different arrangements apply if the CIF has employees or representatives physically present in the host member state acting on its behalf. These are contained in article 76 of the Investment Services Law, which regulates the establishment of a branch or the appointment of a tied agent attached to a branch established in the host member state. A CIF providing investment services in a host member state under the freedom to provide services must notify CySEC of its intention to do so in accordance with article 79 of the Investment Services and Activities and Regulated Markets Law of 2007, as amended (the Investment Services Law). Article 79 stipulates that a CIF may not start to provide services or perform activities in the host member state until it receives notification from CySEC that the competent authority of the host member state has been informed of its intention to provide services there.

On January 21 2013, the Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) finally issued the (Investment Advisors) Regulations 2013 (Regulation). The Regulations seek to regulate the activity of 'investment advice'.

Mian Muhammad Nazir Most of Islamic finance products and services, particularly financing transactions, necessitate procuring an insurance cover (Takaful). This is to mitigate certain inherent risks in underlying contracts or structures that cannot otherwise be excluded or mitigated in a Sharia compliant manner. The Takaful model for insurance is based on the principle of mutual cooperation and indemnification. Therefore, Takaful cover can easily be used to mitigate market and credit risks in many Sharia nominate financing contracts, without breaching the mandatory Sharia principles which prohibit exclusion or mitigation of certain risks in such contracts. In some commonly used structures for sukuk and investment products, the proceeds of Takaful cover are the only source of payment for the investors in the event of total loss of the underlying assets. Takaful has a critical role in the growth and success of the Islamic banking and finance industry. Therefore, it is very important that the Takaful industry is capable of satiating the increasing demand for Takaful products that are compatible with the profile of risks intended to be mitigated under various Sharia nominate contracts.

Iñigo Rubio Lasarte It seems that Spain may see a solution in the coming weeks to the nine Spanish highways that filed for insolvency within recent months. The Government is working on a plan to finally rescue the insolvent concessions, with the acceptance of the financial lenders. According to various government sources, the proposal consists of nationalising the insolvent concessions (AP-41, R-2, R-4, R-3 and R5, AP-36, Aucosta, Ciralsa, M-12 and Ausur) by contributing the equity of the concessions to a public company. After the Government takes control, it will agree on a restructuring of the debt with the financial lenders, including substantial write-offs. The plan will need the support of both the equity sponsors and the financial lenders, and it is here that a substantial discrepancy may appear between the Spanish and foreign lenders.

Financial institutions are at the centre of Europe’s incoming OTC reforms. But corporates must prepare too. Here’s how

CVC’s offering of PT Matahari shares on IDX demonstrates the development of Indonesia’s capital markets. It also proves that private equity firms can exit in Indonesia