CONFERENCES

2010 Americas & Asia Pacific Joint Regional Conference (including Executive Council Meeting)

José Rafael Bustamante and his colleagues of the Ecuador firm of Bustamante and Bustamante recently hosted the Americas and Asia Pacific Regional Conference in Quito and, despite the long distance which many people had to travel, welcomed  thirty delegates from north and south America as well as eight delegates from Europe.  The conference was also joined by a representative from the Paraguay firm which is currently undergoing a due diligence visit.

The substantive programme was led by the guest speaker Mr Roberto Baquerizo, an ex-Ecuadorian Monetary Board Chairman who currently works for the Rockefeller Group in New York.  He gave a review of the latest economic developments that have occurred across Latin America and their impact on the wider Americas region as well as globally.  The session was very well received and provoked a great many comments and questions by the delegates.

This was followed by sessions on ‘Tax Free Havens – Benefits and Limitations’; ‘Trade and Investment issues in the Americas’; and ‘Practice Management – How are firms preparing for the upturn?’.  These sessions were led by panellists from Multilaw firms, including Dalton Albrecht; Roberto Alemán; Arnoldo André; Bill Barker; Germán Barrios; Mike Cornett; John  Leaman; Mark Lowndes and Tom Schmuhl.  The final session of the day was a brief from Mike Cornett on the idea of establishing an international healthcare practice within Multilaw.

The programme for Saturday morning comprised the two regional meetings which were followed by a Business Development session led by Peter Hawley and Adam Cooke.  This opened with a survey of Multilaw objectives and enablers as they were identified in Toledo in 1990; Quito in 1996 and how they stand today.  Delegates were encouraged to share their own experiences over the past 12 months of developing business in their respective jurisdictions.