|
|
|
| |
| Additional information |
| |
| CMS Bureau Francis Lefebvre |
| |
| |
Profile:
The signature of the Treaty of Asunción in 1991 formed the Common Market of the South (Mercosur), which is the third largest economic bloc in the world after the European Union and NAFTA (North American Free Trade Agreement). The Mercosur comprises Argentina, Brazil, Paraguay, Uruguay and Venezuela (Bolivia and Chilli are associate members) and represents a market of 250 million inhabitants and over $1,000 billion in GDP.
Our firm has accompanied the Mercosur's dynamic development since 1994 initially from a South America Desk based in France. We have developed consulting and advisory services in the region, in particular for governments and companies in the scope of privatisations.
When this activity took off on an increasing scale, establishing a local office soon became necessary. CMS Bureau Francis Lefebvre Mercosur is based in Buenos Aires since 1999 and provides legal and tax advice to companies and investors wishing to restructure or develop business in Argentina, Brazil or in the region in general. The Montevideo and Rio de Janeiro offices were opened in 2000 - the latter has since been relocated to São Paulo - with a view to strengthening this presence by providing wider coverage throughout the whole region.
The three CMS Bureau Francis Lefebvre Mercosur offices work closely together. For specific projects, the firm forms transversal teams comprised of professionals from each of the three offices according to the relevant legislations and/or required skills.
Our services
We offer a complete range of legal (advice & litigation) and tax services to foreign companies based or represented in the Mercosur region and regional companies. This notably includes advising foreign companies on direct foreign investments in the Mercosur region or local companies on various issues relating to their everyday activities and investments protection.
Moreover, we have solid experience and specific know-how in providing legal advice to private clients.
Our expertise
We advise our clients at all stages of their development on the various Mercosur markets. Our lawyers are particularly specialised in the following areas:
Direct foreign investment
* Strategy and investment optimisation, in particular tax optimisation; and
* Negotiating and drafting contracts required to create joint ventures, take ownership interests and form foreign-held companies (representative offices, branches, subsidiaries, etc.)
Corporate and Commercial Law
* Company secretarial services;
* Capital restructurings;
* Mergers and acquisitions; and
* Court-ordered recovery and liquidation proceedings.
Financial and banking law
* Financing transactions;
* Debt restructuring; and
* Exchange contro
National and international taxation
* Tax audits;
* Tax optimisation; and
* Transfer pricing.
Employment law
* Dismissals and restructurings;
* (Local and expatriate) employment contracts; and
* Immigration law.
Property law
* Due diligence;
* Development of property projects; and
* Construction law.
Winery and wineyard law
* Purchase due diligence;
* Contracts relating to oenological practices; and
* Contacts and taxation relating to foreign trade and property management.
Environmental law
* Due diligence; and
* Developing projects in the scope of the Kyoto protocol.
Dispute resolution
* National and international arbitration and litigation.
Our clients
Our clients are large international groups specialising in a wide-range of sectors including telecommunications, media, food-processing and agriculture, services, intermediate goods, power, supermarket distribution, etc.
We assist our clients equally in the scope of complex transactions - mergers and acquisitions, restructurings, bankruptcy and insolvency proceedings, tender offers, etc. - and in foreign trade transactions - drafting contracts, exchange controls, etc. Our firm analyses the taxation aspects of these transactions from national and international perspectives for which we have recognised practical experience.
Finally, we provide investment advice to our private client base, which is experiencing strong growth levels.
Five reasons to choose our firm
* CMS Bureau Francis Lefebvre is the only international European law firm based in Argentina, Brazil and Uruguay.
* Our multinational and multidisciplinary teams comprised of South American and European lawyers, work in four languages (English, Spanish, French and Portuguese) and are fully available to provide assistance in all countries in the region.
* With more than 12 years' experience in the Mercosur region, we guarantee a complete understanding of the business law of the various jurisdictions.
* Our expertise enables us to offer viable and efficient solutions to large groups, medium-sized companies and individuals, linked to guaranteeing satisfactory legal security.
* We comply with strict codes of conduct both with regard to our clients and in our teams aimed at protecting the interests of our clients who place their trust in us.
|
|
 |
|
|
|
|
|
 |
|
 |
|
|
