Latin America

Latin America offers significant opportunities for global companies and regional champions, but operating across diverse legal systems, regulatory environments, and cross‑border frameworks requires experienced guidance. Steptoe supports international businesses investing or expanding in Latin America, and Latin American companies as they pursue growth and protect their interests around the world.

To meet these client needs, Steptoe brings together a team that combines legal, regulatory, and commercial insight grounded in the realities of doing business in the region. Our team includes lawyers trained in civil law systems, former senior executives from major South American corporations, and professionals fluent in Spanish and Portuguese. Our longstanding partnerships with respected law firms across the region enable us to coordinate seamlessly on delivery of local legal advice. With our network of trusted local law firms and our global capabilities, we help clients manage compliance and investigations, resolve disputes, navigate trade and market‑access requirements, and structure complex transactions.

This integrated approach enables clients to navigate cross‑border requirements with confidence, capture new opportunities, and mitigate risk in rapidly developing markets. We also support South American companies expanding internationally or accessing global financial markets, helping them and their domestic advisors build compliance frameworks, resolve cross‑border disputes, and meet regulatory expectations in key jurisdictions.

Corruption Investigations: Latin America remains a high-risk region from a compliance perspective, and Steptoe regularly conducts internal investigations and represents companies in US government investigations and enforcement actions involving allegations of corruption, fraud, money-laundering, sanctions, and other legal and compliance issues in connection with business operations and dealings in the region.

World Bank Investigations: For major infrastructure and government‑contracting projects across the region, Steptoe helps clients manage obligations and mitigate regulatory risk. We bring strong experience before the World Bank, the Inter‑American Development Bank (IDB), and other multilateral development banks, advising on audits, internal investigations, and project‑specific compliance reviews, as well as representing clients in sanctions proceedings brought by these international financial institutions. Led by a former IDB investigations chief, our team delivers effective representation and practical compliance and risk‑management solutions grounded in global standards and local realities.

Trade: As export‑driven industries play a central role in many Latin American economies, we offer extensive experience advising Latin American governments and companies on high‑impact trade, regulatory, and dispute matters. The firm represents leading regional producers in complex US antidumping and countervailing duty cases, defends Latin American governments in WTO disputes, and counsels clients on sanctions, anticorruption exposure, and supply chain compliance. Steptoe also advises on emerging climate‑related and sustainability‑driven trade measures that increasingly affect key Latin American industries’ global markets access.

International Arbitration, Litigation, and Dispute Resolution: With investment environments shaped by evolving regulatory frameworks and periodic policy shifts across Latin America, we often represent clients in high‑stakes Latin America-related international arbitration under ICSID, ICC, and other major rules in investor‑state disputes and in cross‑border disputes in US and UK courts involving expropriation, energy, and infrastructure projects. Our experience includes converting ExxonMobil’s multibillion‑dollar ICSID and ICC awards against Venezuela and PDVSA into enforceable US judgments. We also represent ExxonMobil in litigation against Cuban state‑owned entities and act for investment funds pursuing asset‑recovery actions arising from Brazil's "Car Wash" corruption scandal.

Financial Services, Banking, and Digital Assets: Latin America’s financial sector is undergoing rapid transformation, driven by the rise of digital‑only banks, fintech innovators, and alternative financial platforms. Against this backdrop, Steptoe advises banks, financial institutions, and fintech and digital‑asset companies on regulatory obligations, anti‑money‑laundering requirements, investigations, litigation, and the fast‑evolving global rules that affect their operations. We also support Latin American financial institutions in US enforcement matters and assist crypto and digital‑asset companies in navigating emerging international regulatory frameworks.

Transactions and Investment: Latin America is seeing renewed dealmaking momentum and Latin American companies and international investors are navigating a period of strategic consolidation, selective investment, and sector‑driven growth. Steptoe brings value in advising on cross‑border transactions, privatizations, and investments involving energy, mining, commodity, telecommunications, infrastructure, and other key sectors. We support clients in structuring deals, assessing regulatory risks, and aligning investment strategies with global sustainability trends.