The Latin American Lawyer September 2018 LATAM MAGAZINE SEPT18 | Page 30

Special report: Central America
Investors should not consider Central America as a
‘single market’
Law firms in the region need to keep pace with client demands – the ‘generalist lawyer is almost an
endangered species’, with clients requiring more specialisation from their advisers
Hernán Pacheco
Investors should resist the temptation
to look at Central America as a single
entity and instead understand that all the
jurisdictions in the region offer a diverse
range of attractive assets, according to
Hernán Pacheco, EY Law’s managing
partner for Central America, Panama and
the Dominican Republic.
Pacheco says that, while international
investors tend to look at Costa Rica,
El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras,
Nicaragua, the Dominican Republic
and Panama as a single market, each
country has distinctive characteristics.
He says that Costa Rica and Guatemala
are characterised by a higher level of
M&A activity, as well as an increasing
amount of opportunities for investment
in infrastructure and technology.
Meanwhile, there is also a trend for
companies in Costa Rica and Guatemala
to seek to expand their businesses
outside the Central America region via
acquisitions. As the markets in Central
America become more mature and
family-owned companies sell their assets
and become cash-rich, they often seek
to invest in other sectors beyond their
home countries. “This is an interesting
new trend and we have seen Central
American companies targeting businesses
in countries such as a Colombia,”
Pacheco says. and more in-depth sector knowledge.
“The generalist lawyer is almost an
endangered species as global clients
require more specialisation from their
legal advisors,” Pacheco says, adding
that there is high demand among
multinationals for advice on an ever-
changing regulatory environment,
both in their home countries and in
the jurisdiction they are targeting.
“Local lawyers need to have exposure
to, and knowledge of, both local and
international regulations in areas such as
data privacy, compliance, cybersecurity
and finance.”
Regional hub
Meanwhile, Panama and the Dominican
Republic offer potential investment
opportunities in the energy, transport,
hospitality-related infrastructure and
real estate sectors,