Can you elaborate on the role of government agencies and oversight bodies in enforcing labour laws and social security regulations in Mexico?
Agencies charged with enforcing labour and social security laws, are the Ministry of Labour (STPS), the Mexican Social Security Institute (IMSS), and the National Workers’ Housing Fund Institute (INFONAVIT), through information requests, labour inspections and specific social security audits. Continue reading “Key developments in employment law in Mexico”
The ferocity of competition in Latin America’s legal sector over the last decade has reshaped the region’s key markets. A genuine onslaught of factors – ranging from the challenges of institutionalisation and the arrival of international players to populist politics and the pandemic – has led to powerful change, eroding the former ‘magic circle’ groups that previously dominated most key jurisdictions and, in general, reducing them to just a couple of leading players.
Beyond the upper echelons, the region’s markets have grown in terms of depth, professionalism and specialisation. Certain markets, most notably Chile, but also – increasingly – Colombia, are demonstrating a tendency towards an increasing proliferation of boutiques, which in turn bring their own challenges to more established market players. Below is an analysis of the region’s key Pacific Rim jurisdictions, working from north to south – and also a brief look at Argentina and Brazil. Continue reading “Latin America focus: Brave new world”
Panama is known for smart corporate structures that function harmoniously with a top-of-the-world financial sector, creating business opportunities for entrepreneurs and investors worldwide.
One of Panama’s most successful and developed strategies to attract foreign investment has been the establishment of special economic zones with investment regimes that offer a broad range of tax, labour, migratory and legal stability incentives. Continue reading “Sponsored briefing: Panama: The multinational hub”
The tables below summarise top-tier rankings, firstly by country (for the region’s major jurisdictions), and then on a regional basis, as drawn from The Legal 500 Latin America’s 2022 edition (published October 2021). Please note these listings exclude Central America, which will be considered separately in a subsequent edition of Legal Business.
Continue reading “Legal 500 data: The Legal 500 Latin America rankings”
Dentons has capped off an expansive summer, even by its own standards, announcing it is to enter Argentina and Uruguay through its fourth and fifth combinations respectively in just over a month.
The 10,000-lawyer firm announced today (4 September) it will add another 80 to its ranks by absorbing Rattagan Macchiavello Arocena in Buenos Aires and Jiménez de Aréchaga, Viana & Brause in Montevideo. Continue reading “Dentons makes it five mergers in a month with Argentina and Uruguay tie-ups”
It has been a turbulent few years for many of those in the upper echelons of Brazilian politics and business. Around the world, headlines have been filled with salacious tales of corruption, perhaps most notably the bribery and kickback scandal emanating from state-backed oil giant Petrobras, embroiling many high-profile individuals and entities across the region.
Anti-corruption legislation and regulation enacted in the past five years – the so-called 2014 Clean Company Act, fully implemented in 2015 amid public unrest by the soon-to-be-impeached President Rousseff – has enabled Brazil to usher in a new era of compliance, the efficacy of which has left many in the business community reeling. The judge-led ‘Lava Jato’ (‘Carwash’) investigation, started in 2014, is perhaps the most recognisable herald of this new era. Continue reading “Welcome to the hurricane – Latam GCs struggle with corruption clampdown”
Garrigues, the largest firm in continental Europe by number of fee-earners, has recorded a 3% rise in global revenue in 2016, growing to €349.4m. Continue reading “Spanish powerhouse Garrigues posts steady global revenue as LatAm turnover up 82%”
The International Chamber of Commerce (ICC) has revealed record figures for new cases filed in 2016, with substantial increases in caseload for Latin America and South and East Asia. Continue reading “‘A truly global caseload’: ICC figures show arbitration growth in LatAm and Asia in record year”
Days after announcing its fifth merger of 2015 with Luxembourg outfit OPF Partners, Dentons has today (30 November) announced it will launch a presence in Latin America and the Caribbean, and is considering combining with Colombia’s Cárdenas & Cárdenas, and Mexico’s López Velarde, Heftye y Soria (LVHS).
