Arent Fox partner Hunter T. Carter, who serves as chairman of the New York City Bar Association’s Committee on Inter-American Affairs, has been published in the Latin American Law & Business Report.

In his article, “A Proposed New Arbitration Law is Circulating Among Circles in Colombia,” Hunter explores proposed revisions to Colombian law on recognition and enforcement of foreign arbitral awards.

“This is good news,” Hunter writes. “Any international arbitral award granted by a tribunal sitting in Colombia will be treated as a national award and will not require recognition for enforcement, under the new proposal. An international award from a tribunal seated outside Colombia would require a simple application to the Civil Appeals section of the Supreme Court of Justice, but the grounds to oppose recognition are limited to those in the New York Convention (otherwise known as ‘the Convention on the Recognition and Enforcement of Foreign Arbitral Awards’). Much more important, the time to decide recognition will be cut from two years to 30 days – ten for the opposing party to challenge recognition, and twenty after that for the Court to decide. Better still, unlike many countries, there would be no process to appeal or challenge the decision under the proposed procedure.”

Hunter writes, “Enhancing foreign arbitration comes at a time when much is happening in Colombia to make it even more attractive to investors. Fitch has just joined the other two rating agencies in giving Colombia an investment grade rating on sovereign debt, a benchmark for other fixed-income securities in the corporate and public private sector, stating that ‘the Rating Outlook is revised to Stable from Positive.”

To read the full article, please click here.

The Latin American Law & Business Report is published by WorldTrade Executive, a Thomson Reuters publication.

Hunter Carter serves as chair of the New York City Bar Association’s Committee on Inter-American Affairs, a standing committee addressing legal and policy issues in Latin America and Canada. You can follow Hunter’s continuing commentary and analysis of legal and business developments in Colombia on his blog at and Twitter page.