In 2013 Mexico embarked on a major energy reform by amending its Constitution, thereby allowing the participation of private investors in the exploration and extraction of oil & gas and the generation of electricity, particularly from clean and low-cost energy sources. Subsequently, Certificates of Clean Energy (“CELs“) were introduced on 31 October 2014 to promote…
2019 was a lively year for international arbitration in Latin America – especially in the international commercial arbitration arena, which is the focus of this post. Contributors to Kluwer Arbitration Blog reported mostly on favorable developments on arbitration-related legislation, case law and other initiatives. The year, however, ended with a regrettable situation in Peru, where…
Introduction The United States, Mexico, and Canada renegotiated the 25-year-old North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) in 2018. As a result of these renegotiations, the parties agreed on new terms to formulate “NAFTA 2.0” or the U.S.-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA) in the United States, the CUSMA in Canada and, the T-MEC in Mexico. The USMCA aims…
Background In early June 2017, Banco Popular Español S.A. (‘Popular’) was placed into resolution under the European Union’s (‘EU’) Bank Recovery and Resolution Directive (‘BRRD’) and the Single Resolution Mechanism Regulation (‘SRMR’). It was the first – and only, to this day –case where the Single Resolution Board (‘SRB’), as the European resolution authority, intervened…
In July, San Jose, Costa Rica and Monterrey, Mexico hosted the latest Young ITA Talks forum, which was also carried via videoconference. Panelists from all over Central America and Mexico gathered to discuss and share current trends in their respective countries regarding the recognition, enforcement and annulment of arbitral awards. The in-person panels were held…
The seminar “International Arbitration in Mexico – Latest Developments” took place on March 21, 2019 in New York City (the “Seminar”). International and Mexican practitioners gathered to discuss issues such as the relevant investment climate in Mexico, policy changes from the current administration, as well as, relevant developments in commercial arbitration in the country. Donald…
[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…
On Friday December 7th, a distinguished panel of government negotiators, experienced investment arbitrators and senior legal advisors gathered in Paris at the law faculty of the University Paris II Panthéon-Assas (Paris II) to discuss the US-Mexico-Canada Trade Agreement (USMCA) also called the “New NAFTA” signed on November 30th. The panel was held as part of…
Introduction In October 1865, Sir Robert Hart, a former British diplomat and by then an official in the Qing Chinese Government, wrote to Empress Dowager Cixi expressing his opinion that China should desperately seek progress through investments in mining, the telegraph, the telephone and especially in railways. The reaction of Empress Cixi’s closest advisors was…
Introduction: The Pro-State Orientation of the USMCA Chapter 14 of the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA) presents a model of investor-state dispute settlement (ISDS) that fundamentally realigns the balance between investors and states in favor of the latter. This realignment consists in the USMCA’s structure and specific provisions. Structurally, the USMCA eliminates ISDS between Canadian investors…
President Trump’s October 1, 2018 announcement that the United States, Canada, and Mexico have reached an agreement to replace the 1994 North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) marks a veritable sea change in investor-state dispute settlement in the region. Previous and prospective users of NAFTA’s dispute resolution procedures will immediately note that this new free-trade…
Mexico held its general elections (including presidential election) on July 1st. The Government of the country has shifted from a center-right president, Enrique Peña Nieto from the Partido Revolucionario Institucional (Institutional Revolutionary Party), to the favorite candidate for the recent elections, the left-wing politician Andrés Manuel López Obrador (“AMLO”). AMLO, a member of the Movimiento…
The 5th Annual ITA-IEL-ICC Joint Conference on International Energy Arbitration was held in Houston last month, and the focus was on the year past and the year ahead in the arbitration of international disputes in the energy industry. From the topics discussed, predictions rendered and questions raised at the conference, attendees departed considering whether the…
Debates about the propriety of investor-state dispute settlement (ISDS) were revived by a recent letter by U.S. academics, which urged the abandonment of ISDS in the renegotiated North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA). This letter repeated arguments that are familiar from prior ISDS debates, such as that ISDS “grants foreign corporations and investors rights to skirt domestic…
As a result of a reform of Mexico’s Constitution, on 25 February 2017 a Presidential Decree was enacted, whereby the Congress received the mandate to pass a new law on Alternative Dispute Resolution mechanisms (“ADR Law”) in August 2017.[1] For the first time, the right to “access to ADR mechanisms” was recognised at constitutional level,…
NAFTA on the tightrope One of President Donald Trump’s most frequent campaign promises was to “eliminate” the North American Free Trade Agreement (“NAFTA”), which he described as “the worst trade deal maybe ever signed anywhere, but certainly ever signed in this country.” He then softened his tone and stated that he would renegotiate the treaty,…
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…
The views expressed in this article are those of the author alone and should not be regarded as representative of, or binding upon ArbitralWomen and/or the author’s chambers. The legal landscape in Latin America is rapidly changing. Not only has Latin America more bilateral Trade Agreements than any other region in the world, but it…
The New Amparo Law in Mexico introduced a revised concept of “responsible authority”, under which arbitrators might be considered as authorities for amparo claim purposes. Such new concept poses some interrogations: Does it threatens arbitration in Mexico? Would arbitration withstand the pounding? Would the parties’ agreement to arbitrate be enforced? Would the courts stand up…
1. Background Modern arbitration in Mexico commenced with the reforms to the Mexican Commercial Code in 1989 and with the incorporation in such code of the UNCITRAL Model Law on International Commercial Arbitration in 1993. Project agreements with state entities such as Petróleos Mexicanos (PEMEX) and the Federal Electricity Commission (CFE) may be submitted to…
