Americas

Headlines

Brazil’s Lava Jato corruption investigation could self-destruct

IT WAS BRAZIL’S most controversial trial since Tiradentes (“Toothpuller”) was hanged in 1792 for plotting in Minas Gerais against Portuguese colonial rule. In July 2017 Sergio Moro, a crusading young judge, convicted Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, a popular former president, of corruption, sentencing him to nine years in jail for receiving a beachside...

How Mexico and Canada are trying to bypass Donald Trump

A FEW DAYS before Donald Trump announced that he was not going to act on his threat to impose a 5% tariff on Mexico’s exports to the United States, a group of Mexican and American businessmen had dinner with two American politicians, one local and one national, in a Republican-voting state. The Mexicans produced economic data showing what the cost...

Indigenous Colombians fear losing their hallucinogenic brews

IT IS A wet evening deep in the Amazon rainforest when members of the Koreguaje, a tribe of indigenous Colombians, line up to receive brews of ayahuasca, a hallucinogenic potion made from vines. They are handed out by taitas, or shamans, who have travelled in by boat along a river to reach the jungle. As the brew kicks in, the participants’ stomachs...

Canadians are embracing basketball

PROFESSIONAL BASKETBALL got off to an inauspicious start in Canada. The first game in what would later become the National Basketball Association was played in 1946 at Maple Leaf Gardens between the New York Knickerbockers and the Toronto Huskies. The rules had to be explained to ticket-holders. The Knicks were stopped on their way to the game by a...

The Democratic front-runners respond to the Green New Deal

ONE OF ELIZABETH WARREN’S formative political tangles, which prompted her move from law professor at Harvard to senator from Massachusetts, occurred in 2005 over a bankruptcy reform bill. Ms Warren was concerned about the repercussions for middle-class Americans, especially women, who would have a harder time filing for bankruptcy as a result of the...

Finance

Pendo Systems name Ruth Wandhöfer, a globally recognized banking expert, to their Board of Directors

Pendo Systems is proud to announce that Ruth Wandhöfer, Global Head of Regulatory and Market Strategy at Citi, has joined their board. Ms. Wandhöfer is a banking regulatory expert and one of the foremost authorities on transaction banking regulatory matters. Her reputation has been built around her ability to drive regulatory and industry dialogue...

Implications of the money laundering law reform

The amendment to the money laundering law approved in the first debate requires accountants, lawyers and real estate agents to report suspicious transactions made by their clients.Bill 19.951 reforming the Law on Narcotic Drugs, Psychotropic Substances, Drugs of Unauthorized Use, Related Activities, Legalization of Capital and Financing of Terrorism...

Wall Street finishes flat ahead of earnings season, key US-China meeting

It was a fairly flat session on Wall Street overnight, as investors exercised caution ahead of the first-quarter earnings season and a meeting between the US and Chinese presidents later this week. Investors will be focussed on the potentially tense meeting between Donald Trump and Xi Jinping on Thursday and Friday, after Mr Trump held out the possibility...

GLC Advisors Strengthens Advisory and M&A Expertise with Addition of Senior Bankers

Addition of Several Industry Bankers Including Former St. Charles Capital Professionals Deepens Firm’s Expertise and Relationships Across Technology, FIG, Consumer, Retail and Energy IndustriesGLC Advisors & Co., LLC (“GLC Advisors”) is pleased to welcome nine seasoned M&A professionals, including former Partners and professionals of Denver based...

Columbia Threadneedle opens office in Chile

Columbia Threadneedle Investments has opened its first Latin American office in Santiago, Chile. As its first proprietary distribution hub for the Andes (Chile, Peru and Colombia), the new office will serve the asset manager’s institutional and wholesale clients in the region. Columbia Threadneedle has also appointed Santiago Zarauza Riestra...

Legal

Full disclosure: financial assistance and related corporations

Many transactions involve financial assistance by means of a loan, guarantee or otherwise between related corporations. Often, an important consideration in these circumstances is: does such financial assistance trigger any disclosure obligations? Generally, a corporation may give financial assistance to any person (including an individual, partnership,...

Spreading like weeds: alternative cannabis products are on the way!

As we have previously discussed, Canada has positioned itself as a global leader in the cannabis space. That trend is set to continue on October 17, 2019, when it is expected that alternative cannabis products, which include edibles, infused beverages and topicals containing cannabis and cannabis concentrates will be legalized in Canada. The sale...

Global payments industry: frantic M&A activity not slowing down

A payments industry that was stagnant and stale for decades has recently entered a transformational and disruptive period of innovation, with seemingly boundless growth ahead. Payments players have engaged in record-setting levels of global mergers and acquisitions (M&A) activity over the course of the past few years, but 2019 is poised to be yet...

Venture capital investments take off in the first quarter of 2019

The Canadian Venture Capital & Private Equity Association (the CVCA) has recently provided insights into Canadian investment trends for the first quarter of 2019 (Q1 2019). The CVCA has indicated that Private Equity (PE) deals have slowed in Q1 compared to their Venture Capital (VC) counterparts. VC investments have almost doubled since Q1 2018,...

Bill C-97 amendments to the CBCA: broadening the scope of management considerations

The 2019 budget implementation bill (Bill C-97) contains significant amendments to the Canadian Business Corporations Act (CBCA), which should be noted by organizations wishing to acquire Canadian targets. On April 30, 2019, Bill C-97 passed its second reading and was referred to Committee in the House of Commons. The amendments to the CBCA create the...…...

Deals

SafeAI attracts $5 mln

San Jose, California-based SafeAI, a provider of autonomous vehicle technology, has secured $5 million in funding. Autotech Ventures led the round. Read More

Warburg Pincus-backed Avaloq contemplates IPO: Reuters

Swiss banking software company Avaloq is either considering going public in the next two to four years or a sale, according to its CEO who spoke to Reuters. Avaloq is backed by Warburg Pincus.Read More

AnyVision inks $74 mln Series A

AnyVision, a computer vision company, has secured $74 million in Series A funding. The investors were M12, DFJ Growth, OG Technology Partners, LightSpeed Venture Partners, Robert Bosch GmbH, Qualcomm Ventures and Eldridge Industries.Read More

Stepping Stones acquires StaffRehab

Stepping Stones, a portfolio company of Five Arrows Capital Partners, has acquired California-based StaffRehab, a provider of therapy, nursing, and behavioral health services to children with autism and special needs in school settings. No financial terms were disclosed.Read More

Hanover exits Audio Precision

Hanover Partners has sold its ownership stake in Beaverton, Oregon-based Audio Precision, a maker of test and measurement instrumentation for audio products. No financial terms were disclosed.Read More

Acq Lite

Eni deal a testament to Abu Dhabi's attraction

March 12 (UPI) -- In what's nearly a $1 billion commitment, Italian energy company Eni said it made its Emirati debut in an agreement with the Abu Dhabi National Oil Company.Eni signed agreements to acquire minority shares in the Lower Zakum, Umm Shaif and Nasr offshore fields from state-run ADNOC for a total fee of $875 million."The stakes in the two...

Statoil using mega-rig to tap frontier North Sea area

March 12 (UPI) -- Norwegian energy company Statoil will move a deepwater drilling rig to the North Sea to tap a prospect awarded more than 30 years ago, a regulator said Monday.The Norwegian Petroleum Directorate gave Statoil consent to move the Deepsea Atlantic drilling rig to a section of the North Sea to tap into a prospect awarded to the company...

German green energy segment Innogy divvied up

March 12 (UPI) -- German utility company E.ON is now in control of the renewable energy segment created by its rival, RWE, in a landmark, multi-billion dollar deal, they said.In a joint statement, E.ON said it reached an agreement in principle with RWE to acquire more than three quarters of the stakes in renewable energy entity Innogy, an offshoot from...

Russia test-fires Kinzhal hypersonic missile

March 11 (UPI) -- A Russian jet successfully test-lauched a hypersonic missile Sunday, the Russian Defense Ministry said.The Kinzhal hypersonic missile was launched from an MiG-31 interceptor jet, which departed from an airfield in the Southern Military District, Russia's TASS News Agency reported."A MiG-31 fighter crew of the Russian Aerospace Forces...

Huntington Ingalls contracted for further repairs on USS Fitzgerald

March 9 (UPI) -- Huntington Ingalls was awarded a contract from the U.S. Navy to continue repairs on the USS Fitzgerald.The deal, announced Thursday by the Department of Defense, is valued at more than $77.5 million under the terms of a cost-plus-fixed-fee contract, which is a modification to a previous award.The modified contract between the U.S. Navy...