Newsletter -February 2011

Secured Transactions

The Department of International Law participated in two important events at the International Finance Corporation and the World Bank Group to promote access to credit and capital investment in developing countries. The first was a meeting of the IFC's Secured Transactions & Collateral Registries Practice Group IFC and World Bank team members, consultants, multilateral organizations and other relevant stakeholders which took place on October 21, 2010, to provide an overview of legal reform projects on secured transactions and registries throughout the world. OAS/DIL provided an overview of the status and activities it has undertaken to implement the Model Inter-American Law on Secured Transactions, approved by OAS member states in 2002 at the Sixth Inter-American Specialized Conference on Private International Law (CIDIP-VI), and the Model Registry Regulations approved my OAS member states in 2009 at CIDIP-VII. OAS/DIL also provided input as to how the Model Law and Registry Regulations may serve as additional tools IFC and the World Bank can use for reform in other parts of the world.

OAS/DIL also participated in the International Finance Corporation/World Bank Group's, Advisory Committee Meeting on Secured Transactions, which took place on October 22, 2010 to provide recommendations for the planning and development of the reform projects in the Americas, in particular with regard to the intersection of commercial law reform and millennium development goals, the need for international organizations to provide a cohesive reform strategy and coordinate efforts, and the need to ensure that all reform efforts include the principles and concepts necessary for legal reform in this area of law.

The also DIL hosted a meeting of government experts on secured transactions and registry reform, on October 6, 2010 at OAS headquarters. The meeting, which took place under the auspices of the U.S Department of State Distinguished Visitor Program, provided an overview of the impact reform can have on the access to capital in the local economy, the manner in which states can approach reform, and the role the Model Inter-American Law Secured Transactions and the Model Registry Regulations can play in updating the local legal framework to achieve the desired results. High ranking government officials from Costa Rica, El Salvador, Guatemala, Dominican Republic, Panama, Paraguay, and the United States participated in the meeting. As the next step in the process, participants in the meeting will provide information and recommendations on the manners in which to continue with legal reform in their respective states.

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