Watch and listen to Baker McKenzie specialists and industry experts talk about recent legal and commercial developments affecting financial institutions around the world. The latest webinar in the series looks at Sustainability for Financial Institutions – Global Trends and the LatAm Perspective.

The availability of climate financing to assist developing countries, the most vulnerable in the world to climate change, with the transition to a low-carbon, climate-resilient future was one of the key topics under discussion COP 27. There were numerous funding and climate action announcements focusing on Africa at “Africa’s COP”. It is hoped African countries will soon be able to access some of the financing required to fortify the continent against the impact of climate change. Achieving this is essential, not only to address urgent climate change adaption and mitigation challenges, but also to unlock the great potential of the continent.

Current global geopolitical changes have opened up new prospects for Algeria. On the one hand, Algeria is being courted by Europe and redoubling its efforts to increase its energy offering to reap record profit amid high gas prices. On the other hand, additional gas revenues offer opportunities for Algeria to develop the local industry in order to reduce its dependence on imports and fossil energy in the long term, and create jobs and technological partnerships. But can Algeria effectively create a competitive and business-friendly climate to attract foreign investors?

The Partnership for Global Infrastructure Initiative (PGII) was launched in June 2022 at the G7 Summit in Germany. The PGII is a USD 600 billion lending initiative to fund infrastructure projects in the developing world, with a particular focus on Africa. One of the aims of the initiative is to help address the massive infrastructure investment gap in Africa.

Countries in Africa will benefit from the increase in commodity prices and the growing demand for green energy, but the continent must address its infrastructure gap to better enable it to do so. At the same time, the commodity bull run, and growing focus on ESG policies, is boosting investor interest and unlocking finance for Africa’s infrastructure development.

In this series of short podcasts, Baker McKenzie ESG Debt & Equity experts discuss key tips and things you should you when considering raising sustainable finance, including the ever-evolving legal and regulatory requirements across regions.

Our December issue of Trade Finance Quarterly leads with commentary on two long awaited documents in the trade finance market – the LMA borrowing base facility and the Uniform Rules for Digital Trade Transaction.

In July of 2017, Andrew Bailey, the chief executive of the UK Financial Conduct Authority (FCA), announced in a speech that after 2021 the FCA would no longer use its power to compel panel banks to submit rate information used to determine the London Interbank Offered Rate (LIBOR). Mr. Bailey encouraged the market to develop robust alternative reference rates to replace LIBOR.

Welcome to the June edition of this quarterly publication that includes a variety of legal and market focused articles on current topics of interest in the world of trade finance.

Countries around the globe are facing unprecedented and rapid change due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The Government Intervention Schemes Guide provides a summary of key government intervention measures across jurisdictions around the globe in relation to Foreign Investment Restrictions, Debt, Equity, Taxation, and EU State Aid Approvals.