Category Archives: Blog

New Benefits for the Energy Industry in Nicaragua

Nicaragua’s Energy Industry was recently reformed by publication in the Official Gazette of Law 1,011 that amends Article 32 of Law 272, Law of the Electricity Industry. The amendment creates an exemption from all taxes on an activity that meets the following conditions: Sale of Electric Power, made by a Distributed Generator, to the Distribution…

Law for the Strengthening of the Competition Authorities in Costa Rica

On August 29, the Law for the Strengthening of the Competition Authorities was adopted in its second and final voting session.  This Law aims to strengthen and improve the implementation of competition laws and policies by the Commission to Promote Competition (Coprocom) and the Superintendency of Telecommunications (SUTEL). This is a very comprehensive reform, comprising virtually all…

Free Trade Zones in Costa Rica: Country benefit and current issues

The Foreign Trade Corporation of Costa Rica (PROCOMER) presented the report named Balance of the Free Trade Zones: Net Benefit of the Regime for Costa Rica 2014-2018, which analyzes and exposes what the Free Trade Regime represented for the country in 2018, in economic and social terms.  Furthermore, it is important to supplement this study with certain data…

New deadline for regularizing environmental instruments in Guatemala

On January 3, 2020, the Ministry of Environment and Natural Resources decreed an extension of three years to the period of regularization of environmental instruments in Guatemala. Thus, existing projects have until December 16, 2022, to apply for their respective environmental license. The environmental instrument is a technical document in which environmental impacts and risks…

Over 250 Cuban lawyers receive ILAC-IBA Diploma in International Commercial Law

More than 250 lawyers from Cuba received a diploma in International Commercial Law at the graduation ceremony held on November 15 at the University of Havana. The International Legal Alliance Consortium (ILAC) has coordinated the diploma since 2016. The course is implemented by the International Bar Association (IBA), a founding member of ILAC, and the National Organization of Collective…

Costa Rica is closer to starting a new commercial relationship with the United Kingdom

On January 9, 2020, the British deputies finally approved an agreement to implement the exit of the United Kingdom as a member of the European Union (BREXIT).  More than three years after the referendum that marked a milestone in the history of the European community, the UK is ready to end a forty-seven-year regional integration….

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…