International Business Law Advisor

Insights on International Litigation & Transactions

The One Thing to Remember on Your Next International Business Trip.

By Santiago A. Cueto on Posted in Business Transactions, Corporate Governance, international business, international law

global business, international business law miami, international business attorneyI received an email from a client several weeks ago who was getting ready to travel overseas to meet with his new business partners on a major international distribution deal.

Because the client had never been to this part of the world, he was concerned that he would inadvertently “commit some cultural faux paus” and do something that would potentially blow the deal.

I assured the client that this would not happen and that everything would turn out fine as long as he remembered the time-tested axiom:

When in Rome, do as the Romans do.”

It’s simple but it works. Continue Reading

Worried About Your Global Supply Chain? Then You Must Check Out Create.org.

By Santiago A. Cueto on Posted in Business Transactions, Corporate Governance, Intellectual Property, international business, international law, international manufacturing, international trade

international business attorney miami, global supply chain, international shipping, international tradeFor any company concerned about the integrity of their global supply network, there’s a great post over at the venerable China Law Blog by Dan Harris.

The post, Improving The Global Supply Chain: Create.Org highlights Create.org, “a non-profit organization dedicated to helping companies and their suppliers and business partners reduce counterfeiting, piracy, trade secret theft and corruption.”

One way Create.org is helping companies protect the integrity of their global supply networks is by providing  insightful white parers and reports on their website.

There’a  lot of great information available for download including  Trade Secret Theft: Managing the Growing Threat in Supply Chains and The Impact of Intellectual Property Theft on the Economy.

Be sure to check it out!

 

Can the Location of a Computer Server Be enough to Confer Jurisdiction over International Defendants? Yes. Maybe.

By Santiago A. Cueto on Posted in Business Transactions, Corporate Governance, Dispute Resolution, international law, International Litigation

international attorney, international business, international jurisdictionIn any international dispute our firm takes on, the first level of analysis will almost always center on the location of the parties and where the dispute arose.

If there is no jurisdictional basis for a lawsuit in the U.S., then– if you’re on the plaintiff side– the case is referred out to our network of international lawyers.

If we’re defending you, then there’s a good chance the case will be dismissed in the absence of a valid jurisdictional nexus.

Over the years, I’ve seen creative ways in which U.S. lawyers have attempted to assert jurisdiction over international defendants.

The most recent attempt raises the bar in what’s state-of-the-art. Continue Reading

The International Litigation Playbook: 10 Winning Strategies for Tackling International Opponents.

By Santiago A. Cueto on Posted in international business, international law, International Litigation

international litigation attorney, international litigationIt’s been well over three years since we launched the International Law Advisor.

Over the years, we’ve amassed a high volume of  content aimed at international legal practitioners and business owners.

We were recently approached by a highly regarded publisher to publish a book on a topic that our readers have been most interested in.

By and large, the one topic that dominated the conversation was international litigation.

And that’s no surprise.

With the ever-changing landscape and sheer competitiveness of international business, more and more companies find themselves in U.S. courts litigating over discreet issues potentially worth billions of dollars. Continue Reading

Doing Business in Brazil Just Got Easier (or Less Difficult).

By Santiago A. Cueto on Posted in Business Transactions, international business, international law, international trade

Brazil attorney, international business, Brazil BusinessI received an email the other day from someone looking to form a business in Brazil.

I told this person that forming a business in Brazil can be a real headache, particularly if you do not have a Brazilian partner.

It’s a crazy dynamic and I just don’t understand it–with all the economic advances Brazil has made in the past decade, it’s hard to see why its bloated bureaucracy continues to resemble the early days of post-cold war Russia.

I bring this up because my good friend Greg Barnett has a great post, Forming a Company in Brazil Just Got Quicker and Easier.

In the post Greg details how Brazil’s largest city, São Paulo, has streamlined the formation and registration process for new companies. Continue Reading

How Russian Investors Can Reclaim their Investments in Cyprus.

By Santiago A. Cueto on Posted in Dispute Resolution, International Arbitration, International Investments, international law

Russia Cyprus attorney, Russia Cyprus international dispute, international arbitration russia cypru

UPDATE:  The Cyprus parliament unanimously rejected the proposed European bailout, raising the possibility of a messy default.

***

The firestorm over the Eurozone bailout of Cyprus, a small Mediterranean metropolis, continues to rock financial markets.

Under the terms of the bailout deal, everyone with a bank account on the island has to pay a one-time tax on their deposits — 6.75 percent on everything up to 129,000 and 9.9 percent on anything more.

Russians are particularly irate over the proposal as these articles illustrate: Why Russia is irate about the Cyprus bank tax, Russia Sees Cyprus Plan as ‘Unfair’ Plot to Seize Money of Its Citizens and Russian money in Cyprus: Why is there so much?

Russians have reason to be upset– they hold up to a third of all Cyprus bank deposits or an estimated $31 billion dollars.

Assuming most Russians are large depositors, a 9.9 percent tax would cost the Russians as much as $3.1 billion.

Russian president Vladimir Putin decried the proposal as “unfair, unprofessional and dangerous,” while Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev called it “just like a confiscation of someone else’s money.” Continue Reading

5 Key Points Every Chinese Investor in the U.S. Must Know.

By Santiago A. Cueto on Posted in Business Transactions, Corporate Governance, international business, International Investments, international law, International Litigation, international trade

international business attorney, international business law, miami international attorneyIn the past year or so I’ve been working with a Chinese industrial manufacturing company looking to tap into the U.S. market.

In just a few years, the company has wildly exceeded its expectations.

The company’s success can be attributed to zealous commitment to learning.

By this, I mean that the company understood that it had to abandon deeply entrenched legal and cultural assumptions to overcome the steep learning curve associated with finding success in the U.S. market. Continue Reading

Enterprise Florida’s International Trade Leads Program: A Great Place to Discover International Business Opportunities.

By Santiago A. Cueto on Posted in Business Transactions, international business, International Investments, international law, international manufacturing, international trade

Florida international trade, Florida international trade attorneyWith the Dow reaching an all-time high today, Americans are feeling a lot better about the state of the economy—more so than they have in nearly a decade.

This coincides with a recent Gallup poll that found Americans are also feeling better about international trade.

According to the excellent International Economic Law and Policy blog, the latest trend can be attributed to the much talked about U.S. – E.U. free trade agreement that’s currently in the works.

After all, trade with the E.U. is less frightening than trade with China.

That’s one theory, at least.

Here in Florida, international trade is a concept familiar to most businesses.

That’s because Florida is a key international trade hub.

Florida companies act as key suppliers to buyers in dozens of countries worldwide, shipping goods made locally in Florida (“Florida-origin exports”), elsewhere in the United States, or in another country. Continue Reading

The Ultimate in FCPA Scholarship in One Place.

By Santiago A. Cueto on Posted in Business Transactions, Corporate Governance, international business, international law, International Litigation

international business attorney, international business law, fcpaOne area of law that has received enormous attention in the international business community the past several years is the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act.

The sheer amount of FCPA material out there is staggering.

Just Google “FCPA” and you’ll see what I mean (over 1,200,000 results generated).

For anyone trying to keep up with the latest FCPA developments, it can all get overwhelming.

I mention this because Mike Koehler over at the  FCPA Professor blog (h/t Corporate Compliance Insight blog) just posted an extraordinary compendium of FCPA articles published in the latest volume of the Ohio State Law Journal. Continue Reading

Switzerland Passes Tough Executive Pay Rules.

By Santiago A. Cueto on Posted in Business Transactions, Corporate Governance, International Banking, international business, International Investments, international law

With all the talk about executive pay here at home, it’s interesting to note that Switzerland just passed a set of tough executive pay rules.

The new rules allow shareholders at Swiss-listed companies a binding vote each year on the total compensation of boards of directors and senior management, as well as a total ban on “golden parachutes” and executives being paid compensation in advance.  Those who violate the rules face criminal penalties.

Critics of the new plan have claimed that it will leave Swiss-listed companies unable to compete for top talent with the rest of the world, or even non-Swiss listed companies within Switzerland.

However, those behind the plan clearly see it as the beginning of a global trend.

The UK is also introducing reforms to give shareholders a binding vote on pay in October, as well as measures to make remuneration packages more transparent.

It’s easy to see why. Excessive executive pay has been a lightning rod for public anger across the world since the financial crisis.

The EU is already capping bankers’ bonuses and now the Swiss people has spoken very clearly as well

 What do you think?