Conference programme

Much has been said that Fintechs threaten the business of traditional banking, but increasingly they seem to be complementary businesses.  While they certainly compete, they also collaborate.

Banking-as-a-Service (BaaS) is increasingly becoming an important co-player to traditional banking which has slowly given certain access to Fintechs. The opening of these new opportunities has helped improve financial services and bolstered financial inclusion. These new endeavours are also creating a very active M&A market in the Banking sector that is being carefully analysed by the antitrust authorities.

Relevant questions are: what are the most relevant regulatory trends in the region to, on the one hand, encourage this collaboration or disruption and, on the other, preserve the strength of the traditional financial system? How should the regulation evolve? As dealings with cryptocurrencies and Fintechs proliferate, governments are still sorting out the appropriate regulatory response.

In a region where a waning but interminable pandemic continues to challenge the economic stability of our countries, where social unrest is surfacing time and again and where political pendulums are swinging maybe faster than ever, legal advisors in Latin America need to grapple with the challenge of designing and implementing mechanisms to address the ever-changing landscape of our countries.

This panel seeks to discuss and analyse how lawyers in Latin America are dealing with uncertainty in M&A transactions.

In Latin America, the sudden shock caused by Covid-19 triggered a steep decline in M&A transactions after the high point of 2019. As businesses look towards a brighter 2022, will they be able to seize the opportunities the region offers?

Latin America presents a growing market characterised by resilience, emerging sectors and weaker currencies, in addition to a strong cross-border M&A tradition, bolstered by the international trend towards globalisation. The pandemic also sped up the implementation of virtual and remote forms of business, which had long been in use in other regions, thus facilitating transactions. On the other hand, uncertainty about shifting political climates, public policy, regulation, socio-political landscapes and so on can dampen investors’ enthusiasm.

A panel of experts will discuss strategies to protect regional investments and identify opportunities, while steering safely around the region’s volatility.

Environmental, social and governance (ESG) issues are currently on the spotlight of legal discussions worldwide. ESG criteria are an increasingly popular way for investors to evaluate companies in which they might want to invest.   Many mutual funds, brokerage firms and advisors now offer products that employ ESG criteria.  While this concept is growing and being more important for many investors, it's important to understand how to implement them and how they are measured. Many jurisdictions and international bodies are monitoring the initiatives developed by public and private agents to make them to implement them better and see alternatives for a unified system for ESG implementation.

In this session, we will have brief overview of what are the main ESG criteria and how lawyers can give better advice to their clients to meet and evaluate these criteria and accompany them in the process.

The purpose of this panel is to discuss motivation, limitations and the impact of Covid-19 to the development of female entrepreneurship in Latin America, and what the roles of the private sector are to provide the right environment to encourage new women-led businesses in all sectors in the Latin American region, as well as to consolidate and increase the presence of female leaders in the corporate sector.

What are the driving forces behind new M&A deals? What is the impact of the new technology-based economy in M&A deal flow, and what should be expected in the near and mid-term future in this respect? What will be the main bets for private equity and venture capital funds going forward and how will such decisions have an impact on the M&A ecosystem? The session will explore carve-outs, the expansion and growth of venture capital, consolidating startups, Fintech, general industry consolidation and the constant competition between funds and strategic investors. The panel will discuss and analyse the current market trends and, most importantly, what we should expect to see in this space in the next 12 to 36 months.

During the last decade, there has been an increase in M&A activity in digital markets. There is a clear tendency from the antitrust authorities to update the analysis and the perspective when dealing with antitrust cases and merger reviews in these markets. These developments bring new challenges for companies, experts and lawyers.

What is happening around the world in antitrust regulation of digital markets? What is the approach of the authorities to M&A transactions involving technology companies? How has cross-shareholding in the tech world in the mergers review process evolved? What are the main M&A decisions in digital markets and what principles can be determined for the future? Our panel will discuss the main current issues in competition and digital markets, focusing on the main mergers, acquisitions and joint ventures in these markets.

This panel will explore the challenges of private equity (PE) and venture capital (VC) transactions in LatAm. This session will examine, in the Latin American context, the difficulties faced by PE and VC investors to make deals in the region. The panellists will discuss how the companies must be prepared to receive investments, including corporate restructuring, tax and accountability compliance to international standards. There are also some specific challenges: how to accommodate the company’s corporate governance after the deal; earn-out rules – how to deal with the conflict between sellers (managers) and investors; divesting – preparation for new rounds of investment and for the IPO.