Current News & Events

The Inter-American Investment Corporation (IIC) has granted a US$10 million loan to Scotiabank’s leasing operation, in a deal which drew legal counsel from across Central America.

The IIC sought advice from law firms in each of the four jurisdictions, rather than opting for a firm with regional capacity. BLP Abogados led the lender’s counsel in Costa Rica, along with Quiñones, Ibargüen & Luján SC in Guatemala, Honduras’ Casco-Fortín, Cruz & Asociados, and Quijano & Associates in Panama.

BLP’s Andres Lopez says, “Being a transaction made at a regional level, it required a coordinated effort from the four legal firms advising the lender. One of the main challenges for by BLP Abogados was to act as the lead in this regional transaction in order to satisfy the high standards of the client.”

Scotia Leasing – which took legal advice from its in-house team – will use the financing to make small leasing arrangements with small and mid-size companies, offering five-year loans worth up to US$500,000.

In the current economic climate, says Lopez, companies in Central America have particular need of such financing.
Vanessa Velasquez of Casco-Fortín Cruz agrees, saying, “It was great to work in such an interesting financing transaction in this time of economic downturn.”

The loan agreement was made under Costa Rican law, and while Scotia Leasing’s subsidiaries in Costa Rica, Guatemala, Honduras and Panama acted as co-borrowers, the funds were paid directly to the Guatemalan and Panamanian operations.

An affiliate of the Inter-American Development Bank, the IIC makes private sector loans to the banks’ member countries in Latin American and Caribbean, in order to “promote and support the development of the private sector and the capital markets.”

Counsel to The Inter-American Investment Corporation

• In-house counsel - Rafael Díaz-Loyola and Legal Fellow Giovanna P. García


Costa Rica

• BLP Abogados
Partner Andrés López and associates José Monge, Luis Hernández and Marianna Fonseca


Guatemala

• Quiñones, Ibargüen & Luján SC
Partner José Quiñones and associate Carlos Rodriguez


Honduras

• Casco-Fortín, Cruz & Asociados
Partner Vanessa Velásquez


Panama
• Quijano & Associates
Associate Jaime E. Sánchez


Counsel to Scotia Leasing
• In-house counsel - Manfred Sáenz 
 


Article from Latin Lawyer's web page.