Member Articles
El Salvador ´s Crypto Ecosystem and next steps to implement “The journey of a thousand miles begins with one step.” Lao Tzu. On Wednesday, June 9, El Salvador published in its Official Gazette a historic event worldwide, the first law in the world that provided a digital asset, specifically the bitcoin with unrestricted and unlimited clearance power in any transactions that natural persons, public or private legal entities carry out in any capacity, therefore, bitcoin became a legal tender in El Salvador... |
Important aspects in recruitment and selection processes Regional Labor Team The recruitment and selection process is critical for companies and certain principles related to the dignity of the human person must be respected during its execution... |
El Salvador: Bitcoin Law Preliminary concepts: Prior to conducting an analysis of the Bitcoin Law (hereinafter “BTC Law”), it is important to clarify two fundamental concepts regarding this type of digital assets: – What is bitcoin? A bitcoin is a decentralized digital asset created in 2009 by one or more people under the pseudonym of Satoshi Nakamoto, with the mission of being a virtual currency or an instrument of electronic exchange to acquire products and services |
El Salvador: Of the judicial proceedings for the declaration of incapacity and appointment of a guardian The judicial declaration of incapacity is the process that is followed before a family judge who after exhausting the due process declares a final judgment in which determines that a person suffers from a cause of incapacity that is that a person who must be fully capable to exercise his or her rights and obligation on his or her own is not, being necessary to carry out the proceedings where he or she is declared as incapable... |
El Salvador: Advance payment of the Income Tax Advance payment can be understood as: “… the payment made before the occurrence of the generating event that constitutes the future and uncertain event on which the legal force of the obligation depends” (Giulani Fonrouge and Susana Navarrine in “Procedimiento Tributario”, Editorial de Palma, page 159)... |
A review of data protection legislation in the Caribbean In 2019 at the World Economic Forum, Antonio Neri, CEO of Hewlett Packard said “Data is the new currency”. This analogy has become very popular because data is now considered one of the most valuablecommodities. In the European Union (EU), data protection is a fundamental right, and the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) which came into force on May 25th, 2018, isthe framework for protecting that right... |
El Salvador: Executive summary – creation for Bitcoin Trust Law On August 31st, 2021, with 64 votes the Congress approved the Law regarding the Creation of the Bitcoin Trust (“FIDEBITCOIN”), by means of which a trust is constituted in the Development Bank of the Republic of El Salvador (“BANDESAL”), to benefit the users of the National Wallet, represented by the Republic of El Salvador, whose purpose will be to support the alternatives for bitcoin convertibility provided by the Salvadoran Government... |
El Salvador: Bitcoin Law Regulation On August 27, 2021, the Regulation of the Bitcoin Law (the “Regulation”) was published in the Official Gazette of El Salvador. The Regulations will enter into force on September 8, one day after the entry into force of the Bitcoin Law... |
Opportunities for foreign bitcoin-related investors in El Salvador In El Salvador, the Bitcoin Law was approved by the Legislative Assembly and published in the Official Gazette last June 9th of this year, establishing avacatio legisof ninety days from its publication; in that sense, its entry into force is scheduled for next September 7th... |
Panama: Changes to the Requirements for the Temporary Residence Permit and the Permanent Residence Permit as Forest Investor The Ministry of Security, through theExecutive Decree No. 199 of May 7th, 2021(hereinafter the “Decree”), adjusts the requirements for obtaining atemporary residence permitand apermanent residence permitas a Forest Investor, as follows: The forest investor residence permit may be requested in the following modalities: (i) temporary residence permit, (ii) permanent residence permit in 2 stages, and (iii) permanent residence permit in 1 stage... |
Panama: Short Stay Visa as a Remote Worker The Government of the Republic of Panama, in response to the new modalities of work worldwide, among these, remote working, considered it appropriate to create this subcategory within the Non-Resident Visas. Executive Decree No. 198 of May 7th, 2021 (hereinafter, the “Decree”), published in the electronic Official Gazette on May 20th, 2021, creates the Short Stay Visa as a Remote Worker. Panama, May 21, 2021... |
Panama: Changes to the Requirements to Obtain the “Residence Permit as Friendly Nations” The Ministry of Public Security modifies the requirements to request the residence permit for foreigners from specific countries who maintain friendly professional, economic and investment relationship with the Republic of Panama. Panama, May 24, 2021. The Ministry of Public Security through Executive Decree No... |
The United States Corporate Transparency Act (“CTA”) of 2021 What is the CTA? The CTA was enacted on January 1st, 2021 as part of the National Defense Authorization Act to prevent the use of companies to evade anti-money laundering rules or to hide other illegal activities. Under the CTA companies will be required to report information regarding its beneficial owners with a beneficial ownership registry maintained by the United States Treasury Department’s Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN)... |
Entry into force of the Electronic Commerce Law in El Salvador In the Official Gazette No. 27, volume No. 426, dated February 10th, 2020, was published Decree No. 463, which contains the Law of Electronic Commerce – hereinafter “LCE” -, which has the purpose of establishing a legal framework for electronic relations of a commercial, contractual nature, carried out by digital, electronic, or technologically equivalent means. As stipulated in Decree No... |
The Philosophy Behind the Successful Economic Substance Regime of the BVI Following the introduction in the British Virgin Islands (BVI) of the Economic Substance (Companies and Limited Partnerships) Act, 2018 (ESA), which became effective on January 1st, 2019, some questioned the sustainability of BVI’s position as a leading international financial centre. While we cannot underestimate those concerns, we believe that there is also evidence that ESA will not have a negative impact on the BVI... |
How to Protect my Trademarks and Ideas? You are undertaking a project for a new business, a startup.You already have the financial/commercial side well thought-out, and have commissioned a designer to sketch a logo and design a corporate identity under the brand you have decided to use. You buy stationery, signs, business cards, among others... |
Startup Financing A company’s need for substantial amounts of capital is intensified when looking to grow quickly, or develop an innovative product that will disrupt the market in a meaningful way. This is true to any company, and is especially true to innovative and disruptive startups, which aim at creating new markets, revolutionizing existing ones and prevailing over traditional market participants... |
The Quetzal will Soar its Flight:
The public + The private: the winning alliance
By Ignacio Grazioso
Ten years ago, the PPP Law was approved, the regulatory framework that seeks to make the Public Private Partnerships (“PPPs”) viable as a solution to the country's infrastructure deficit. For reasons beyond legal and economic facts, Guatemala has not yet seen its first PPP project born. However, the planets seem to be aligning to propitiate the possible detonation of investment in infrastructure and we see reasons for optimism on the horizon... |
Disability and Remote Work Teleworking is a work tool that opens a world of possibilities for the reinsertion of sectors of the population that have not had free access to work opportunities. It is a feasible option to provide job opportunities to people for whom moving outside their homes is a limitation; limitations that could occur not only to people with family responsibilities – child and elderly care – or students, but also to people with disabilities... |
Telework in Guatemala Although in Guatemala there is no legal frame for “Telework”, it could be said that it is a way in which services are provided in a location other than the employer's office or headquarters. What makes this modality so attractive? What is the key to make it work? The key is in TECHNOLOGY, in the innovative and efficient use of tools that allow us to be connected without being anchored to a specific place... |
Special Regimes Relevant to Panamanian Startups At the beginning of astartup’slife,the use of financial resources in the most efficient way is of vital importance.It is for this reasonthatthe incentives that a country can provide to an entrepreneurand hisnewlyformed company can potentially determine how and how much that company willgrow... |
Feasibility of Organizing a Startup as Limited Liability Entrepreneurship Company On July 22, 2020, the National Assembly approved, after a third debate, Draft Law No. 83 (the “Draft Law”), which regulates limited liability entrepreneurship companies (the “LLECs”) in Panama, and is now awaiting the signature (or veto) of the President of the Republic... |
Superintendence of Non-Financial Regulated Persons Issues New Regulations in Relation to Attorneys and Accountants Panama, 24 July 2020. By means of Rule JD-01-2020, published in the Official Gazette No. 29076 of 24 July 2020, the Superintendence of Non-Financial Regulated Persons (SNFR) has established a set of rules and obligations imposed to attorneys and accountants whenever they incur in any of the regulated activities under Law 23 of 2015, which relates to prevention of money laundering, financing of arms of mass destruction and financing of terrorism... |
Panama: The World of Turnkey Contracts, Partial Payment Accounts and Certificates of No Objection
For a long time, we have heard in different social media, for various reasons, some more positive than others, information related to Turnkey Contracts and the State indebtedness resulting from the Partial Payment Accounts (in Spanish, “Cuentas de Pago Parcial”) and Certificates of No Objection (in Spanish, “Certificados de No Objeción”)... |
The Creation of a Startup in Panama An entrepreneur has a lot to consider when starting a new business... |
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