Author Archives: blp_admin

Ban on Drinking Straws and Plastic Bags in Costa Rica

Law Number 9786 to Combat Plastic Pollution and Protect the Environment which enters into force in six months after its recent publication in the newspaper La Gaceta, seeks a drastic reduction in the consumption of plastic items of a single-use in the country and their subsequent recycling in accordance with the principles of a circular…

Implementation of Compliance Programs to Mitigate Criminal Liability of Legal Entities for Corruption Activities

On June 6, 2019, the Congress approved the new Law for Criminal Liability of Legal Entities on Domestic Bribery, Transnational Bribery and other Crimes (“Law”), as part of the commitments acquired by the country to enter the OECD. According to the international standards, the Law imposes criminal liability on legal entities (national or foreign), and…

New merger filing thresholds in Costa Rica

The new rules for the approval of mergers and acquisitions came into force. Law No. 9736 “Law on the Strengthening of Competition Authorities of Costa Rica” was published today.  As reported in an earlier newsflash, this is the most ambitious reform of the competition protection system in the country since the enactment of the Competition Law almost…

BLP participates in the XIV Ibero-American Regulation Congress “Towards an intelligent regulation”, organized by the Ibero-American Association of Regulation Studies (ASIER)

With the outstanding involvement of four of our lawyers, BLP actively participated in the XIV Ibero-American Regulation Congress held in Medellín, Colombia on November 13-15. Our delegation was made up of partner Luis Ortiz, and attorneys Julio Castellanos, Francisco Obando, and Daniel Rodríguez, all of whom are specialists in Public Law, Public Procurement & Regulation, Banking & Finance, and…

BLP participates in the Tax Symposium organized by the Association of Private Accountants of Costa Rica

BLP partner Luis Chacón, tax law expert, participated as a speaker at the Tax Symposium organized by the College of Private Accountants on November 6, 2019, in which he discussed the deductibility of expenses, tax havens and hybrid asymmetries in light of the Tax Reform in Costa Rica. For an expense to be deductible from…

BLP participates in the Second Meeting of Human Management & Sustainability in Colombia

Through our specialist partner in Labor & Employment, Randall González, the firm participated in the event organized by the Colombian Federation of Human Management of Colombia (ACRIP), Colombia’s most important entity on Human Capital issues, formed by the business and academic sectors of that country. Randall’s presentation dealt with discrimination and its relationship to diversity…

Event: Corporate Compliance in Guatemala

Corporate compliance is a set of procedures and best practices adopted by organizations to identify and classify the operational and legal risks they face and establish internal mechanisms for prevention, management, control and reaction to such risks. In an environment of increasing transparency, non-compliance with corporate governance rules and guidelines can have a direct and…

BLP participates in the XXXVII Interdisciplinary Course on Human Rights

From October 15-25, 2019, Irene Aguilar, BLP Director of Sustainability, participated in the workshop discussion Towards Respect for Human Rights in Business Activities at the XXXVII Interdisciplinary Course on Human Rights at the Inter-American Institute of Human Rights, in San José, Costa Rica. This course, which is held annually, is the most important human rights…

Reform to the Law of the Financial Analysis Unit to reaffirm the inclusion of Lawyers and Notaries Public as Obligated Subjects in Nicaragua

On October 7, 2019, the full and amended text of Law 976, Law of the Financial Analysis Unit, was published. The reform was carried out by law 1,002 that was published on September 13 and follows the same policy line as Law 977, Law Against Money Laundering, passed a month earlier. This new reform closes…

Compliance programs and the benefits they provide to companies

In today’s market, a company can implement several types of Compliance programs and the application and scope of each vary according to the needs and requirements of the business. In general, in Nicaragua, we are all obliged to comply with the law and all criminal, tax, civil, labor regulations, as well as the specific regulations…