After struggling with the adverse effects of the COVID-19 pandemic, 2022 remained a period of transition for Latin America. New arbitration rules and protocols were adopted in jurisdictions such as Ecuador, Brazil and Mexico that reflected best practices born out of the limitations placed on arbitrations by the pandemic. Other jurisdictions such as Colombia, Chile…
In 2021, Latin American countries continued to struggle with the adverse effects of the COVID-19 pandemic. Accordingly, legislative and jurisprudential developments on arbitration-related issues were also affected given that the governments were focused on reactivating local economies, vaccinating their citizens, and launching tax and labor reforms. In addition, presidential elections also marked political shifts for…
Introduction Since the enactment of the Argentine Civil and Commercial Code (the “CCCN”),1)The CCCN, Law No. 26.994, is in force since August 1, 2015. Argentina counts on a national statute to regulate the “arbitration agreement”. This legislative milestone has been mostly welcomed by the arbitral community, although some of its provisions have been subject to…
In April 2019, an Argentinean court ordered a company not to initiate an investment arbitration before ICSID based on the bilateral investment treaty between the Argentine Republic and the Republic of Chile (“BIT”). The Federal Court in Civil and Commercial Matters No. 5 (the “Court”) ordered the interim measure in a case between the Argentinean…
[Source:Google] In this post the Kluwer Arbitration Blog’s Latin American editorial team (Associate Editor Gloria Alvarez and Assistant Editors Daniela Páez and Enrique Jaramillo) joins us in an adventure to reflect on the Blog’s 2018 coverage of arbitration developments in the region. First, it is worth recapping the environment and circumstances…
Arbitration in Argentina is finally finding its way to certainty. On 4 July of this year, Argentina passed the International Commercial Arbitration Act, based on the UNCITRAL Model Law. Furthermore, Argentinian domestic courts have recently handed down arbitration-friendly decisions. In this regard, a new judgment just been issued by the Argentine Federal Supreme Court of…
On 4 July 2018, the Argentine National Congress passed a new arbitration act modernizing the framework for the conduct of international commercial arbitrations in Argentina (the Arbitration Act or the Act), based on the UNCITRAL Model Law and its 2006 amendments (the Model Law). The development comes in response to calls from the arbitral community…
In what should be deemed as an authentic legislative milestone, on July 4, 2018 the Argentine House of Representatives approved the International Commercial Arbitration bill (previously passed by the Senate in 2017). The bill became a law and entered into force as Act 27,449 after its publication in the Official Gazette on July 26, 2018….
At a time when Argentina is looking to modernize its arbitration culture and attract foreign investment, the IBA Arbitration Day held in Buenos Aires could not have been more opportune. Gathering more than 400 arbitration experts from more than 45 countries, the venue and the event proved to be up to the challenge. While arbitration…
The judicial review of arbitral awards has been a continuous topic of discussion amongst scholars and legislators. Considering the major effects of the seat of the arbitration in annulment proceedings, even when the arbitral award is in principle final and binding, local legislators are faced with the need to balance the aim of assuring the…
The complexity of M&A In recent years there has been an increase in M&A disputes. These are often complex because the underlying dispute can involve complicated business transactions between big companies that merge, are acquired, or form a joint venture. And more importantly, they can have a significant impact on the market (for example, the…
Argentina’s Arbitration Legal Reform: Steps in the Right Direction? Argentina is arguably one of the countries with the most untapped economic potential worldwide. Argentina’s government, led by President Mauricio Macri, is trying to change that. Together with undertaking economic and political reforms aiming at stimulating private investment, the Argentine government is pushing for an exhaustive…
“And the day came when the risk to remain tight in a bud was more painful than the risk it took to blossom.” (Anaïs Nin) Introduction and background On 12 July 2017, CMS Hong Kong and the Hong Kong International Arbitration Centre (HKIAC) hosted the fourth joint lecture in their quarterly series focusing on the…
Argentina recently entered into a new Bilateral Investment Treaty with Qatar. After 15 years of absence in this type of negotiations and several claims the country faced since the economic and financial crisis of 2001, Argentina sat again in the BIT negotiation table. This was a unique opportunity for Argentina to start from scratch, and…
In Scherk v. Alberto-Culver Co, the US Supreme Court stated that “[a] contractual provision specifying in advance the forum in which disputes shall be litigated and the law to be applied is an almost indispensable precondition to achievement of the orderliness and predictability essential to any international business transaction.” While this statement holds almost invariably…
On December 21, 2016, the Tribunal in Hochtief v Argentina issued an award on damages against Argentina in an arbitration brought under the Argentina-Germany BIT. The Claimant had alleged multiple treaty breaches by Argentina, arising out of the 2000 economic crisis, and originally sought US$ 54 million in damages. Although the Tribunal found that Argentina…
For more than a decade, Argentina has been living in a permanent crisis, which affected all sectors of the economy and turned out in an avalanche of investment cases, many of them under the ICSID Convention. Thus, Argentina became one of the most active players in the investor-state dispute settlement system, facing almost 60 cases…
“And the winner is Buenos Aires” said Alice Fremuth-Wolf, deputy Secretary General of the Vienna International Arbitral Centre and presiding arbitrator of the final round, in the afternoon of 24 March 2016. This was the moment that a group of coaches, students and former students of the University of Buenos Aires (“UBA”) had long worked–and…
Bruchou, Fernandez Madero & Lombardi Abogados Until recently, recognition and enforcement of investment awards remained untested before Argentine courts. This changed in 2015. On August 18, 2015, Chamber A of the National Court of Appeals on Commercial Matters, rendered a judgment on the recognition of an ICSID award in the court case “CCI – Compañía…
In December 2015, the Brazilian Judiciary faced, for the first time, the question as to whether a foreign arbitral award annulled by the Judiciary at the arbitration seat could be granted recognition. Specifically, in EDF International S/A v. Endesa LatinoAmérica S/A & YPF S/A (SEC No. 5.782/AR), the EDF International S/A corporation (“EDFI”) commenced arbitration…
Overview On 1 August 2015, the new National Civil and Commercial Code (the “Code”) entered into force in Argentina. Articles 1649 to 1665 of the Code incorporate the new regulations governing arbitration. Although not expressly stated, it may be understood that it applies to both domestic and international arbitration. In accordance with the Argentinian federal…
2015 has witnessed numerous interesting legal developments in the field of international arbitration in Latin America, although these have been wide-ranging in nature and have not always followed the same path. While some jurisdictions have taken legislative steps to introduce or consolidate pro-arbitration legislation in accordance with internationally accepted standards, others, perhaps influenced by negative…
On November 17, 2014, the tribunal in Alemanni v. Argentine Republic issued its long-anticipated decision on jurisdiction and admissibility. Alemanni is the third in a series of large-scale arbitrations arising out of Argentina’s default on its sovereign debt, and the most recent decision bears some resemblance to the preliminary awards rendered in the other two…
As reported earlier, the US Supreme Court has recently adjudicated on the issue of the standard of review in relation to arbitration agreements in international investment arbitration. It is a fact that the majority of the Court has decided that deference should be given to arbitral tribunals to examine questions of procedural conditions, as it…
