The legal process of entering into a joint venture with the Cuban water utility company

Type :

Presentation

Pages :

16 pages

Format :

.doc

Published date :

12/05/2008

Category :

Law & contracts

Sub category :

International law

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Summary :

Introduction.
Investment in Cuba.
1. The advent of Fidel Castro and his bearded revolutionaries.
2. 1976 codification of Cuba's abandonment of foreign investment by Fidel Castro.
3. Cuba's implementation of a foreign investment law in 1995.
A post-Fidel Castro Cuba.
The client.
Legal procedures for investing in Cuba.
1. Approval of the written request to the Cuban Executive Committee of the council of ministers for a joint venture.
2. Other necessary elements of the proposed joint venture.
3. Final procedural step.
Substantive legal issues under Law 77.
1. Real estate: Location of the offices of the joint venture.
2. Employment of workers for the joint venture.
3. Pertinent tax issues pertaining to the joint venture.
Conclusion.

Abstract

This paper examines the legal process of entering into a joint venture with the cuban public water system through a joint venture in a Post-Fidel Castro Cuba. Although Fidel is no longer at the helm, the cuban Communist party is still in power. Since Cuba has a state planned economy, we place great emphasis upon the cuban state procedural requirements for foreign direct investment. We also analyze the applicable substantive legal issues; specifically real estate, labor, and taxation. Before discussing the legality of entering into a joint venture with the cuban water company, a general understanding of the history and current situation of foreign investment on the island is necessary. Before 1959 there was a significant amount of foreign investment in Cuba. Most investment was from U.S. nationals. Matias F. Travieso-Diaz, partner at the international law firm of Pillsbury Winthrop Shaw Pittman, notes that the large amount of foreign investment in Cuba before 1959 suggests that in a favorable investment environment, foreign investment can thrive in Cuba. with the advent of Fidel Castro and his bearded revolutionaries to Havana in January of 1959, the investment environment rapidly changed. From 1959 to 1963 the Castro government expropriated the assets of foreign nationals. After evaluating thousands of claims from U.S. nationals whose properties where confiscated by the Castro regime, the United States Foreign Claims Settlement Commission (FCSC) certified 5911 claims with a total value of $1.8 billion in 1960 dollars. Spanish nationals were the next largest group of investors affected by the cuban expropriations. In total Spanish investors lost $350 million.