The EU’s new agreements with Mercosur and Mexico open major opportunities for European investors. For foreign investment protection, investors, however, still have to rely on older international investment agreements and contract-based protection. Investors should be aware of investment risks and proactively protect their investments - through treaty planning, careful structuring and robust contracts. Mercosur and Mexico: Two Key Markets for European Investors Mercosur and Mexico are major markets for European investors that appear to be particularly interesting in times of global...

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Exporters selling internationally often face a difficult balance: offering competitive payment terms while protecting their business from non-payment risk. Factoring helps solve the cash flow challenge by advancing funds against unpaid invoices. However, exporters must choose between recourse factoring and non-recourse factoring. Understanding the difference is essential for managing financial risk in global trade. In a recourse factoring arrangement, the exporter remains responsible if the buyer fails to pay the invoice. Here is how it works: The exporter ships goods and issues an invoice. The factor advances...

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In this week’s Roar: Trans-Pacific rates hold steady, Europe’s negotiation with Iran, truckload rates jump, US indicts four Chinese container makers, and building an ethical beauty supply chain. Data shows Trans-Pacific ocean freight rates have remained mostly flat lately, even as the industry moves into the traditional peak shipping season. While rates on major Asia–U.S. lanes are still up significantly since late February, much of the increase has been driven by capacity being limited by carriers and geopolitics as opposed to market demand....

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Highlights The $549.5 million Perfectus Aluminum settlement is more than ten times larger than the previous record for a customs-related False Claims Act (FCA) resolution and the latest in a string of major cases involving Chinese imports. The U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ)'s new Corporate Enforcement Policy creates a 120-day clock. Once a whistleblower reports internally, the company has 120 days to self-disclose or lose eligibility for a presumptive declination of prosecution. A single customs fraud scheme can simultaneously...

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