Business law refers to the branch of law applicable to business life and, more specifically, to the actors and structures of the business world. Business law can thus be defined as one of the branches of law comprising of a rights set relating to companies. 

As a result of the globalisation and the growth of international trade and commercial relations, business actors, natural or legal persons, carry out frequently transnational activities involving trading partners located in other States than their State of origin (e.g. State of registration). It is referred as international business law. 

One of the duties of a lawyer in international business law is to draft and review international contracts, which a cross-border element. Lawyers specialised in international business law issues must be proficient in international private law. Unlike public international law which governs relations between States, international private law governs relations between private persons, individuals and corporations. Conflicts of jurisdiction and laws are essential when drafting an international contract.  

In addition, international business lawyers are compelled to include cross-border or extraneous elements in their area of specialization, whether it be taxation, mergers and acquisitions or competition law. 

 

What we offer  

“Academic Knowledge combined with proven track record and international negotiation skills”  

When drafting an international business contract, whether it is a sales, franchise, agent, distribution or joint venture contract  it is very crucial for the legal professional that is handling the transaction to have deep knowledge and track record of dealing with various jurisdictions and master international negotiation skills  as in most cases the applicable law is not even national but on the contrary they are provisions of law included in international treaties and legal instruments proposed by International Organisations, such as the United Nations Convention on Contracts for the International Sale of Goods dated 1980 and ratified by the countries where the parties have their premises.  

Our team of lawyers working between three European jurisdictions (Spain, Belgium and Greece) and with long lasting collaboration with our network of associated lawyers in multiple European and international jurisdictions, have gained valuable experience and assist clients with great success rates in the following areas of International Business Law:  

• Drafting & negotiating International commercial contracts 
• European customs law relating to the import and export of goods 
• Dealings with the International Chamber of Commerce (ICC) 

• International disputes, arbitration, mediation & settlement 
• Trade Finance 
• Import/Export due diligence, facilitation & negotiation- including online B2B marketplace/exchanges 
• Joint Ventures, business partner profiling, matching and structuring 
• Cross border debt/equity transactions 

• World Trade Organisation (WTO), Multilateral and Bilateral Free Trade Agreements 

 

  The knowledge and experience acquired by our Law Firm actively over many years in this sector will help you solve any doubts and problems you may have in your international operations: 

• INTERNATIONAL PURCHASE AGREEMENTS 
• COMMERCIAL DEBTS 

• INTERNATIONAL BANK GUARANTEES 
• LETTER OF CREDIT 
• UNIFORM CUSTOMS AND PRACTICE FOR DOCUMENTARY CREDITS (UCP 600) 
• INTERNATIONAL AGENCY CONTRACT 
• COMMISSION AND INTERNATIONAL CONCESSION CONTRACT 

• DISTRIBUTION CONTRACT 
• JOINT VENTURE 
• INTERNATIONAL TRANSPORT 

 

The above mentioned legal instruments and contracts when doing International Trade of goods and many others that are used in international relations and that are of a commercial nature are an area of high ​​specialization of our law firm. 

Apart from National Legislation, we are also specialized to the application of international business practices called lex mercatoria: 

• Uniform Customs and Practices of Collections, publication 522. 
• Uniform Customs relating to Demand Guarantees, publication no 458. 
• Uniform Customs and Practices for Documentary Credits, publication no 600. 
• Uniform Rules for Contract Bonds, publication no 524. 

• Uniform Customs and Practices for the Interpretation of International Commercial Terms (Incoterms). Publication no 560. 
• Uniform Rules for Bank-to Bank Reimbursements under Documentary Credits, no 525. 
• UNCTAD and ICC Rules on Multimodal Transport Document, publication no 481. 
• ITC International Usage on contingent liabilities, ISP 98 International Standby Practices, publication number 590. 

Financial institutions provided their clients with borrowing facilities for the acquisition of these products. At present, following the drop in prices of shares on today, investors must face the compulsory purchase of shares with reductions of between 50% and 75% of their emission value, as well as having to repay the loans they used to finance the purchase of the bonds.

Navas & Cusí, with wide experience in legal procedures against bad banking practice, calls upon the courts of this country for the nullification of the contracts signed and the refund of the significant financial losses by investors as a result of the incorrect marketing of these products on the part of the financial institutions, in cases that have failed to comply with their legal duties of transparency and informationduring the procurement process, omitting the regulations applicable to the institutions that operate in the securities market.

What are convertible and/or exchangeable bonds?

Convertibility means the possibility of transforming one financial asset into another. Thus, a specific obligation (bond) can be converted into a share or into another type of obligation.
Convertible or exchangeable obligations enable the owner to redeem them for shares on a specified date.

Until the conversion or exchange date, the investor receives the interest through the collection of regular bond coupons. The number of shares that will be delivered for each bond or obligation and the way in which prices and dates of the exchange or conversion are determined, are specified in the Informative Leafletpublished by the issuing financial institution.

When the Exchange or conversion date arrives, the investor has two alternatives:

• Exercise the conversion option, if the price of the shares offered in exchange / conversion is less than their market price.
• Keep the obligations until the date of the following conversion option or until their maturity.