International Investment Law and ISDS: Mapping Contemporary Latin America

Abstract

International audienceIn recent years, the negotiation and conclusion of international investment agreements (IIAs) in Latin America has gone hand-in-hand with a rethinking of investment standards and the elaboration of new IIA models. This is evident, among others, in Brazil’s cooperation and facilitation investment agreements (CFIAs), the continuing negotiations on the creation of a regional dispute settlement centre under the aegis of the Union of South American Nations (UNASUR), some recently-released investment policy documents and amendments to national arbitration laws for disputes involving the State. The article highlights such developments emphasising the broad spectrum of local approaches that vary from convergence to divergence in order to interpret Latin American countries’ position in the existing investor-State dispute settlement (ISDS) system and reveal the role that the sub-continent can play in the future design of ISDS

Formal institutions, ICSID arbitration and firm performance: evidence from Latin America

“…In this regard, this paper aims to analyze the role played by international arbitration as a substitute for formal institutions. Specifically, international arbitration provided by the International Centre for Settlement of Investment Disputes (ICSID), 2 belonging to the World Bank, has proven crucial in protecting investors' rights in most Latin American countries over the last few decades (Fach Gómez & Titi, 2016). Most international investment agreements (IIAs) signed by Latin American countries offer foreign investors the possibility of resorting to international arbitration before the ICSID or ad hoc arbitration through the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) rules.…”