Introduction
The MAC Protocol is an international treaty that will increase global productivity in the mining, agriculture and construction sectors. The treaty will provide an international legal framework for the financing of MAC equipment.
The MAC Protocol is an extension of the Convention on International Interests in Mobile Equipment, adopted in 2001 in Cape Town, South Africa (the “Cape Town Convention”). The Cape Town Convention is designed to establish an international legal regime for the creation, enforcement, registration and priority of security interests in categories of high-value, uniquely identifiable mobile equipment. The principal objective of the Cape Town Convention is, in the words of the Official Commentary: “the efficient financing of mobile equipment. […] The Convention system is designed to bring significant economic benefits to countries at all stages of economic development, and in particular to developing countries by bringing within their reach commercial finance for mobile equipment that has previously been unavailable or available only at relatively high cost. A sound, internationally adopted legal regime for security, title-retention and leasing interests will encourage the provision of finance and reduce its cost”.
Cheaper financing and access to modern MAC equipment will allow parties involved in the mining, agriculture and construction sectors to optimise their productivity and profitability.
Scope of the MAC Protocol
The MAC Protocol applies to specific categories of MAC equipment, as defined by six-digit Harmonized System (“HS”) codes. Administered by the World Customs Organization, the HS is used globally to classify goods for the purposes of customs tariffs.
The draft Protocol categorises HS codes into three annexes:
56 individual HS codes are listed in the MAC Protocol Annexes, which account for over USD 100 billion worth of MAC equipment traded globally each year. These HS codes were proposed by States and private industry during the negotiation of the MAC Protocol. The HS codes listed in the MAC Protocol Annexes can be amended through processes set out in Articles XXXV and XXXVI of the treaty.
Economic Benefits of the MAC Protocol
An economic assessment of the MAC Protocol prepared by a team of independent economists found that the MAC Protocol is predicted to have a positive impact of $23 billion on GDP in developing countries and of $7 billion in developed countries, for a total impact on GDP equivalent to $30 billion a year. It is estimated that over a ten-year period, the Protocol may increase the stock of MAC equipment in developing countries by $90 billion. As the scope of the economic assessment was limited to UNIDROIT’s 63 Member States, the actual global economic impact is likely to be much higher.
Background
Initial work (2005-2006)
At its 84th session (Rome, April 2005), the UNIDROIT Governing Council recommended to the UNIDROIT General Assembly to include in the 2006 – 2008 Work Programme of the Institute the preparation of a fourth Protocol to the 2001 Cape Town Convention on International Interests in Mobile Equipment on Matters specific to Agricultural, Construction and Mining Equipment. At its 59th session (Rome, December 2005) the UNIDROIT General Assembly agreed to include such a project on the Institute’s Work Programme.
At the 85th session of the Governing Council in 2006 a document was presented on the MAC Protocol, which included an appendix listing categories of agricultural, construction and mining equipment that could be covered by the Protocol.
Questionnaire and draft text (2007-2009)
At the 86th session the results of a comprehensive questionnaire on matters relating to the development of the MAC Protocol were presented to the Governing Council.
A preliminary draft text of the Protocol was presented to the Governing Council at the 88th session in 2009. Ten Member States provided comments on the draft (Australia, Austria, Canada, Colombia, Finland, Germany, Latvia, Portugal, Romania and the United States of America). The proposed Protocol received particularly strong endorsement from the United States and Germany.
Consultations with private industry (2010-2012)
Germany and the United States subsequently conducted consultations with their domestic private industries. Germany initially contacted 50 stakeholders and held a meeting with six stakeholders, at which there was a general interest and support for the MAC Protocol. The United States State Department consulted with the Equipment Financing Association (which represents over 600 companies) and reported the responses were positive. The results of these consultations were reported back to the Governing Council at the 89th session in 2010. In 2011 further discussions were held at a forum chaired by Dr Bollweg as part of the UNIDROIT Agricultural Investment Colloquium.
Economic analysis and issues dialogues (2013-2014)
Mr Heywood Fleisig, Director of Research at the Center for the Economic Analysis of Law (CEAL), prepared a paper on the potential economic benefits of the MAC Protocol. The paper was presented to the Governing Council at the 92nd session in 2013. The CEAL study noted that the MAC Protocol could facilitate the financing of about $2 trillion in MAC equipment and would increase the sales of MAC equipment by $600 billion over five-seven years.
As part of the preliminary work aimed at setting the scope of a possible fourth protocol, two Issues Dialogues were organised by the United States State Department and the International Law Institute. The meetings were held in November 2013 and January 2014 in Washington.
Subsequently, the National Law Center for the Inter-American Free Trade (NLCIFT) produced a report on the possible benefits of the MAC Protocol.
Governing Council documents
· C.D. (85) 7(c)
· C.D. (86) 8(d)
· C.D. (88) 3(c)
· C.D. (89) 4(c)
· C.D. (90) 4(c)
· C.D. (91) 4(c)
· C.D. (92) 5(b)
· C.D. (93) 4(b)
· C.D. (93) 4(b) Add.
· NLCIFT Report on Secured Financing for Mobile Equipment
· C.D. (94) 5(b)
· C.D. (95) 5
· C.D. (96) 4
· C.D. (97) 5
· C.D. (98) 4
Study Group
At its 93rd session in 2014 the Governing Council convened a Study Group entrusted with preparing a first draft of the MAC Protocol prior to its 95th session. The Study Group was composed of five international experts in secured transactions law:
– Mr Michel DESCHAMPS
Partner, McCarthy Tetrault
Montreal, Canada
– Professor Charles MOONEY
Charles A. Heimbold Jr. Professor of Law
University of Pennsylvania, United States of America
– Professor Jean-François RIFFARD
Professor, Université de Clermont-Ferrand
Clermont-Ferrand, France
– Professor Teresa RODRÍGUEZ DE LAS HERAS BALLELL
Associate Professor in Commercial Law
Universidad Carlos III de Madrid, Spain
– Professor Benjamin VON BODUNGEN
Of Counsel at Bird & Bird LLP
Frankfurt, Germany
First meeting of the Study Group on a Fourth Protocol of the Cape Town Convention on matters specific to mining, agricultural and construction equipment, Rome 15-17 December 2014
The first meeting of the Study Group was held at the seat of UNIDROIT in Rome from 15 – 17 December 2014. The meeting was attended by various international experts in secured transactions law comprising the Study Group, as well as observers from the United Nations Commission on International Trade Law (UNCITRAL) and the National Law Center for Inter-American Free Trade. The Study Group discussed various legal issues surrounding the creation of the Protocol, the delineation of the Protocol’s scope and a preliminary first draft of the Protocol. The Study Group also considered how the Harmonised Commodity Description and Coding System (HS) could be utilised to define the scope of the Protocol. The Study Group made good progress in resolving issues that had been raised at the two Issues Dialogues.
UNIDROIT 2014 – Study 72K – SG1 – Doc. 1
Annotated Draft Agenda
UNIDROIT 2014 – Study 72K – SG1 – Doc. 2
Legal Analysis
UNIDROIT 2014 – Study 72K – SG1 – Doc. 3
Preliminary annotated first draft of a fourth protocol to the Cape Town Convention on matters specific to agricultural, construction and mining equipment (MAC Protocol)
UNIDROIT 2014 – Study 72K – SG1 – Doc. 4
Practical Issues
UNIDROIT 2015 – Study 72K – SG1 – Doc. 5
Report
Second meeting of the MAC Protocol Study Group
The second meeting of the MAC Protocol Study Group was held from 8 – 9 April 2015 at the seat of UNIDROIT in Rome. At the second meeting the Study Group focussed on the interaction between the MAC Protocol and the Harmonised Commodity Description and Coding System (HS), as well as further refining the preliminary draft Protocol.
UNIDROIT 2015 – Study 72K – SG2 – Doc. 1
Annotated Agenda
UNIDROIT 2015 – Study 72K – SG2 – Doc. 2
The Harmonized Commodity Description and Coding System
UNIDROIT 2015 – Study 72K – SG2 – Doc. 3
Descriptive summary of the preliminary list of HS codes for inclusion under the MAC Protocol
UNIDROIT 2015 – Study 72K – SG2 – Doc. 4
Legal Analysis
UNIDROIT 2015 – Study 72K – SG2 – Doc. 5
Second preliminary annotated draft Protocol
UNIDROIT 2015 – Study 72K – SG2 – Doc. 6
Report
UNIDROIT 2015 – Study 72K – SG2 – Doc. 7
Third preliminary annotated draft Protocol
Third meeting of the MAC Protocol Study Group
The third meeting of the MAC Protocol Study Group was held from 19 – 21 October 2015 at the seat of UNIDROIT in Rome. In addition to the panel of international experts in secured transactions law, the meeting was attended by observers from the United Nations Commission on International Trade Law (UNCITRAL), the International Finance Corporation (IFC) and the World Customs Organization. The Study Group continued to make progress in resolving the legal issues that had been raised at the previous meetings, especially in relation to the treatment of fixtures and the use of the Harmonized Commodity Description and Coding System.
UNIDROIT 2015 – Study 72K – SG3 – Doc. 1
Annotated Agenda
UNIDROIT 2015 – Study 72K – SG3 – Doc. 2
Issues Paper
UNIDROIT 2015 – Study 72K – SG3 – Doc. 3
Fourth preliminary annotated draft of a fourth protocol to the Cape Town Convention on matters specific to agricultural, construction and mining equipment (MAC Protocol)
UNIDROIT 2015 – Study 72K – SG3 – Doc. 4
Preliminary List
UNIDROIT 2015 – Study 72K – SG3 – Doc. 5
Report
Fourth meeting of the MAC Protocol Study Group
The fourth meeting of the MAC Protocol Study Group was held from 7 – 9 March 2016 at the seat of UNIDROIT in Rome. The Study Group reviewed the entire text of the draft Protocol and gave further attention to several unresolved legal issues, with particular consideration given to (i) how the Protocol should address the legal effects of MAC equipment becoming associated with immovable property, and (ii) how the amendment process for the Protocol should be refined.
At the conclusion of the fourth Study Group meeting, the Study Group decided that the preliminary draft Protocol was ready for submission to the Governing Council with a recommendation that a Committee of Governmental Experts be convened to further consider the Protocol. Following the meeting, the Secretariat updated the core documents to reflect the decisions made by the Study Group at its fourth meeting.
UNIDROIT 2016 – Study 72K – SG4 – Doc. 1
Annotated Agenda
UNIDROIT 2016 – Study 72K – SG4 – Doc. 2
Issues Paper
UNIDROIT 2016 – Study 72K – SG4 – Doc. 3
5th Annotated Draft Protocol
UNIDROIT 2016 – Study 72K – SG4 – Doc. 4
Preliminary List of HS codes (March 2016)
UNIDROIT 2016 – Study 72K – SG4 – Doc. 5
Report
UNIDROIT 2016 – Study 72K – SG4 – Doc. 6
6th Annotated Draft Protocol
UNIDROIT 2016 – Study 72K – SG4 – Doc. 7
Preliminary List of HS codes (May 2016)
UNIDROIT 2016 – Study 72K – SG4 – Doc. 8
Legal Analysis
2016 Symposium for UNIDROIT Member States and States parties to the Cape Town Convention
In advance of the first session of the UNIDROIT Committee of Governmental Experts for the preparation of a draft Protocol to the Convention on International Interests in Mobile Equipment on Matters specific to Agricultural, Construction and Mining Equipment (the “MAC Protocol”), UNIDROIT invited Member States and States parties to the Cape Town Convention to attend a half-day symposium to discuss key aspects of the project. The symposium took place at the Seat of UNIDROIT on Friday 2 December 2016.
UNIDROIT 2016 – Study 72K – PM1 – Doc. 1: Agenda
UNIDROIT 2016 – Study 72K – PM1 – Presentation 1 – M Dubovec
UNIDROIT 2016 – Study 72K – PM1 – Presentation 2 – C Mooney
UNIDROIT 2016 – Study 72K – PM1 – Presentation 3 – A Veneziano
UNIDROIT 2016 – Study 72K – PM1 – Presentation 4 – T De Las Heras Ballell
UNIDROIT 2016 – Study 72K – PM1 – Presentation 5 – W Brydie-Watson
First Session of the Committee of Governmental Experts
At its 95th session (18-20 May 2016), the Governing Council considered the draft text produced by the Study Group and decided that it was sufficiently developed to warrant the convening of a Committee of Governmental Experts.
The first session of the UNIDROIT Committee of Governmental Experts for the preparation of a draft Protocol to the Convention on International Interests in Mobile Equipment on Matters specific to Agricultural, Construction and Mining Equipment (the “MAC Protocol”) was held at the Headquarters of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations in Rome in the Green Room, from 20 to 24 March 2017.
The session was attended by 126 representatives from 48 Governments (30 UNIDROIT Member States and 18 non-Member States), six regional and intergovernmental organisations and four international non-governmental organisations.
Committee of Governmental Experts – First session (Rome, 20 – 24 March 2017)
UNIDROIT 2016 – Study 72K – CGE1 – Doc. 1
Annotated draft agenda
UNIDROIT 2017 – Study 72K – CGE1 – Doc. 2 corr.
Preliminary draft Protocol to the Convention on International Interests in Mobile Equipment on Matters specific to Agricultural, Construction and Mining Equipment
UNIDROIT 2017 – Study 72K – CGE1 – Doc. 3 corr.
Explanatory Report to the preliminary draft MAC Protocol
UNIDROIT 2016 – Study 72K – CGE1 – Doc. 4
Legal Analysis
UNIDROIT 2017 – Study 72K – CGE1 – Doc. 5 corr.
Spreadsheet detailing harmonized system codes proposed by the Study Group for inclusion in the annexes to the preliminary draft MAC Protocol
UNIDROIT 2017 – Study 72K – CGE1 – Doc. 6
Comments (prepared by the World Bank Group)
UNIDROIT 2017 – Study 72K – CGE1 – Doc. 7
Comments (submitted by the Government of the United States of America)
UNIDROIT 2017 – Study 72K – CGE1 – Doc. 8
MAC Working Group’s position paper in support of and commenting on the Cape Town Convention’s proposed mining, agriculture and construction Protocol
UNIDROIT 2017 – Study 72K – CGE1 – Doc. 9
Comments (Submitted by the Government of the United Kingdom)
UNIDROIT 2017 – Study 72K – CGE1 – Doc. 10
Background paper (Submitted by the US Department of Commerce on request of the UNIDROIT Secretariat)
UNIDROIT 2017 – Study 72K – CGE1 – Doc. 11
Position paper (Submitted by the Government of Japan)
UNIDROIT 2017 – Study 72K – CGE1 – Doc. 12
Comments (Submitted by the Government of the Republic Of South Africa)
UNIDROIT 2017 – Study 72K – CGE1 – W.P. 1
Provisional order of business
UNIDROIT 2017 – Study 72K – CGE1 – W.P. 2
Daily Report for 20 March 2017
UNIDROIT 2017 – Study 72K – CGE1 – W.P. 3
Proposal by the United States
UNIDROIT 2017 – Study 72K – CGE1 – W.P. 4
Daily Report for 21 March 2017
UNIDROIT 2017 – Study 72K – CGE1 – W.P. 5
Proposal by China
UNIDROIT 2017 – Study 72K – CGE1 – W.P. 6
Daily Report for 22 March 2017
UNIDROIT 2017 – Study 72K – CGE1 – W.P. 7
Report of the Drafting Committee
UNIDROIT 2017 – Study 72K – CGE1 – W.P. 8
Daily Report for 23 March 2017
UNIDROIT 2017 – Study 72K – CGE1 – W.P. 9
Daily Report for 24 March 2017
UNIDROIT 2017 – Study 72K – CGE1 – Report
Report
Second session of the Committee of Governmental Experts
The second session of the UNIDROIT Committee of Governmental Experts for the preparation of a draft Protocol to the Convention on International Interests in Mobile Equipment on Matters specific to Agricultural, Construction and Mining Equipment (the “MAC Protocol”) was held at the Headquarters of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations in Rome in the Green Room, from 2 to 6 October 2017. 120 representatives from 51 Governments (33 UNIDROIT Member States and 18 non-Member States), five regional and intergovernmental organisations and five international non-governmental organisations registered to attend the session.
The Report for the meeting, which includes information on the deliberations of the Committee in relation to each Article, the Report of the Drafting Committee, the amended text to the preliminary draft Protocol and the list of participants is available here.
At the end of the session, the Committee decided that the preliminary draft MAC Protocol was sufficiently advanced to recommend to the UNIDROIT Governing Council that a Diplomatic Conference be convened to finalise and adopt the Protocol.
Committee of Governmental Experts – Second session (Rome, 2 – 6 October 2017)
UNIDROIT 2017 – Study 72K – CGE2 – Doc. 1:
Annotated draft agenda.
UNIDROIT 2017 – Study 72K – CGE2 – Doc. 2:
Text of the revised preliminary draft Protocol to the Convention on International Interests
in Mobile Equipment on Matters specific to Agricultural, Construction and Mining Equipment.
UNIDROIT 2017 – Study 72K – CGE2 – Doc. 3:
Explanatory Report to the preliminary draft MAC Protocol.
UNIDROIT 2017 – Study 72K – CGE2 – Doc. 4:
Legal Analysis.
UNIDROIT 2017 – Study 72K – CGE2 – Doc. 5:
Spreadsheet detailing Harmonized system codes proposed for inclusion in the Annexes to
the preliminary draft MAC Protocol.
UNIDROIT 2017 – Study 72K – CGE2 – Doc. 6:
The 2017 Edition of the Harmonized commodity description and coding system (HS System).
UNIDROIT 2017 – Study 72K – CGE2 – Doc. 7:
Comments (Submitted by the Government of the Republic of Sierra Leone).
UNIDROIT 2017 – Study 72K – CGE2 – Doc. 8:
Comments (Submitted by the Holy See).
UNIDROIT 2017 – Study 72K – CGE2 – Doc. 9:
Comments (Submitted by the World Bank Group).
UNIDROIT 2017 – Study 72K – CGE2 – Doc. 10:
Comments (Submitted by the United States Department of State)
UNIDROIT 2017 – Study 72K – CGE2 – Doc. 11:
Conclusions paper (Prepared by the Chair of the IWGRC and approved by the Group)
UNIDROIT 2017 – Study 72K – CGE2 – Doc. 12:
Comments (Prepared by the Republic of South Africa)
UNIDROIT 2017 – Study 72K – CGE2 – Doc. 13:
Comments (Prepared by the Republic of the Sudan)
UNIDROIT 2017 – Study 72K – CGE2 – Doc. 14:
Comments (Prepared by the United Kingdom)
UNIDROIT 2017 – Study 72K – CGE2 – Doc. 15:
Comments (Prepared by Japan)
UNIDROIT 2017 – Study 72K – CGE2 – Doc. 16:
Preliminary economic assessment (Prepared by Warwick Economics and Associates)
UNIDROIT 2017 – Study 72K – CGE2 – Doc. 17:
Comments (Prepared by the Government of the People’s Republic of China)
UNIDROIT 2017 – Study 72K – CGE2 – W.P. 1:
Provisional order of business.
UNIDROIT 2017 – Study 72K – CGE2 – W.P. 4 rev.:
Daily Report for 2 October 2017
UNIDROIT 2017 – Study 72K – CGE2 – W.P. 6:
Daily Report for 3 October 2017
UNIDROIT 2017 – Study 72K – CGE2 – W.P. 11:
Daily Report for 4 October 2017
UNIDROIT 2017 – Study 72K – CGE2 – W.P. 13:
Daily Report for 5 October 2017
UNIDROIT 2017 – Study 72K – CGE2 – W.P. 14:
Daily Report for 6 October 2017
UNIDROIT – Organisation of the second session
Presentation by Mr William Brydie-Watson Legal Officer, UNIDROIT
Report of the Intersessional Working Group on Registration Criteria
Presentation by Mr Ole Böger Hanseatic, Court of Appeal in Bremen, Germany
Introduction of the HS System: the draft MAC Protocol context
Presentation by Mr Marek Dubovec, National Law Center For Inter-American Free Trade
An Economic Assessment of the Fourth Protocol to the Convention on International
Interests on Mobile Equipment on Matters Specific to Agricultural, Construction and
Mining Equipment (the MAC Protocol)
A Preliminary Report by Warwick Economics and Associates
UNIDROIT 2017 – Study 72K – CGE2 – Report:
Report
Diplomatic Conference
At its 97th session (Rome, 2 – 4 May 2018), the UNIDROIT Governing Council approved the convening of a Diplomatic Conference in 2019 to formally adopt the MAC Protocol. The Diplomatic Conference was held in Pretoria, South Africa between 11 – 22 November 2019. Over 150 delegates from 42 States, 1 regional economic integration organisation, 3 intergovernmental organisations, 4 international non-governmental organisations, and 1 technical adviser participated in the Diplomatic Conference.
States that attended the MAC Protocol Diplomatic Conference
Four States (the Republic of Congo, the Republic of Gambia, the Republic of Paraguay and the Federal Republic of Nigeria) signed the treaty on adoption. During the signing ceremony on 22 November, an additional 20 States expressed their support for the treaty and many declared their intention to initiate domestic processes to sign the instrument. In appreciation of the Republic of South Africa hosting the Diplomatic Conference, the MAC Protocol will also be known as the “Pretoria Protocol”.
Consultations
During the negotiation of the MAC Protocol, the Secretariat undertook extensive consultations through bilateral, regional and multilateral channels. The objectives of these consultations were to (i) inform States about the legal operation and predicted economic benefits of the MAC Protocol; (ii) encourage States to attend the MAC Protocol Diplomatic Conference and consider signing the instrument; and (iii) receive feedback on the draft provisions and open legal issues.
In preparing for the Diplomatic Conference in 2018 and 2019, UNIDROIT delivered 32 bilateral, regional and international consultation events on the MAC Protocol.
MAC Protocol Consultations 2018 – 2019
Bilateral Consultations
Regional Consultations
International Consultations
Professor Iacopo Donati is the UNIDROIT/Bank of Italy Chair Holder and is mainly responsible for assisting in the Bank Insolvency project. He is Professor of Corporate and Insolvency Law at the University of Siena, and coordinates the research project ‘Pro.Re.Ba.’ (Proportionating rules on bank crisis prevention and management to the case of retail banks), which has received funding from the Italian Ministry of University. He has previously taught corporate law at the University of Venice ‘Ca’ Foscari’, at the University of Florence and at the University of Rome ‘Tor Vergata’.
Professor Donati is the author of several publications on corporate law, restructuring, insolvency law, and bank crisis management. On the same topics, he has been invited as a speaker to various international and national conferences and participated in some high-impact international, European, and national research projects. Professor Donati’s education includes a Ph.D. in Corporate Law (University of Rome ‘La Sapienza’), an LLM in Corporate Governance (Stanford Law School), and a Law Degree with honors (University of Florence). He is qualified as an attorney in Italy and in the State of New York (USA).
Ms Olga Fonotova is an Associate Professor of the Faculty of Law (Department of Legal Regulation of Business) at the Russian National Research University “Higher School of Economics” in Moscow. She holds a PhD degree cum laude in private law / private international law from the Lomonosov Moscow State University (2006). Her academic and teaching interests cover private international law, international and national commercial law, with a focus on unified and non-state legal regulation of cross-border commerce.
Olga is a Russian law qualified practicing lawyer in the sphere of national and international commercial and corporate law with 20+ years’ experience in leading law firms. As part of her legal practice, she has advised multinational corporations on the setting up of multi-jurisdictional commercial relations, on the formation / termination of international joint ventures, restructuring of assets, and financing / refinancing of projects. For her work on commercial and corporate legal matters she was included in the international rating of leading lawyers “The Best Lawyers® in Russia” (2018 – 2022).
She is a UNIDROIT alumna (2011) and a Correspondent of UNIDROIT in Russia (2023 – 2025). From 2016 to 2021 Olga was a member of the ICC Commission on Commercial Law and Practice (ICC CLP) and a member of the Association of European Business (AEB) in Moscow.
Allan M. Mukuki, PhD Candidate (Navarra, Spain), LLM (Groningen, Netherlands), PGDip (KSL), LLB (Hons) (UoN), ACIArb (London), Advocate of the High Court of Kenya.
Allan Mukuki is an Advocate of the High Court of Kenya as well as a Commissioner for Oaths. He is presently a PhD Candidate at the University of Navarra in Spain. He is also a holder of an LL.M in International Law and the Law of International Organizations, from the University of Groningen in the Netherlands. He has an LL. B (Hons) from the University of Nairobi, he is a Member of the Cha
rtered Institute of Arbitrators (London). He further holds a post-graduate diploma in law from the Kenya School of Law. Allan is also a scholar from the Hague Academy of International Law.
Some of his many roles in the legal profession include Director of International Partnerships; a Doctoral Fellow; member of the Management Committee and moot court coordinator, all for Strathmore Law School; Research Fellow for the African Region (Kenya), for the European Research Council Grant Project on the interpretation of customary international law; and Acting Director for the Strathmore Institute of Advanced Studies in International Criminal Justice (SIASIC)
Allan has previously worked at A.F Gross Advocate; in various legal institutes; in governmental agencies and in the Judiciary of Kenya. He was also a Legal researcher in the Office of the Solicitor General, Kenya, for the Maritime Delimitation in the Indian Ocean (Somalia v. Kenya), a case that was before the International Court of Justice. His main areas of specialization include Public International Law, The Law of International Organizations, International Humanitarian Law, International and Regional (EAC) Refugee Law and Legal Policy Development.
Further, Allan has been involved in various national and international legal consultancies and projects; he has published several peer reviewed legal articles, a legal monograph and presented several legal papers in international conferences around the world. He has also developed several policy documents for Strathmore University as well as (currently operational) manuals and laws for the operation of the Judiciary as well as governmental agencies and regional agencies such as IGAD.
ANDREA SANTACOLOMA
Director
PROFESSIONAL PRACTICE
Andrea Santacoloma is a Panamanian lawyer that focuses her practice on international commercial arbitration.
Prior to joining Adell & Merizalde, Andrea was the Deputy Director for Latin America of the ICC International Court of Arbitration for 5 years. In this role, she gained vast experience in the internal functioning of the ICC’s Secretariat and Court and saw first-hand the work of hundreds of arbitrators and ICC Court Members in the region. Andrea was also in charge of identifying new opportunities and potential users of the ICC Dispute Resolution Services (ICC DRS) in Latin America, in liaison with the ICC National Committees and other institutions in the region. She also worked as a lawyer advising local and international clients on business and corporate law and M&A in 3 Panamanian law firms.
She is currently the Executive Director of the Latin American Arbitration Association (ALARB), one of Latin America’s leading associations gathering practitioners and arbitrators, which seeks to encourage the use of arbitration and foster initiatives for the development of international arbitration in the region.
In July 2022, the G
overning Council of the International Institute for the Unification of Private Law (UNIDROIT) appointed Andrea as a Correspondent for Latin America. Namely, Andrea was appointed as a Correspondent for the Republic of Panama for the period 2022-2025.
EDUCATION
• American University Washington College of Law, LL.M. in International Arbitration and Business Law
• International Training Centre of the International Labor Organization (ILO) jointly with the United Nations Commission on International Trade Law (UNCITRAL), Università degli Studi di Torino, and University Institute of European Studies (IUSE), LL.M. in International Trade Law & Dispute Resolution
• Universidad Católica Santa María La Antigua, LL.M. in Corporate Law
• Universidad Católica Santa María La Antigua, Degree in Law and Political Science
• Centro de Estudios Regionales de Panamá, Diploma in Entrepreneurship and Management of Small and Medium Enterprises
Bar admissions
Republic of Panama
Languages
Spanish, English, Italian (intermediate)
asantacoloma@adellmerizalde.com
+507 370 4155
NAME: PROF. DR. HERNANY VEYTIA (LL.M. YALE)
AFFILIATION DIRECTOR BNM-CAMBRIDGE STUDY CENTRE ON SUSTAINABLE INVESTMENTS
PRESENTATION
Professor of law, international strategic consultant, arbitrator, and entrepreneur. Hernany Veytia is very comfortable with complex, high-profile and confidential transactions. Her consulting experience as partner of BNM and Deloitte enables her to focus on and add value to the sustainable and commercial aspects of each deal. Frequently she leads transdisciplinary teams to deliver fact findings and legal opinions, feasibility studies and turn-key projects for banks, governments, international organisations, and corporations willing to expand or withdraw operations in other jurisdictions.
In Prof Veytia’s experience UNIDROIT works have been very useful to understand not only the foreign law, but also to recognise the cultural, political, and economic factors at play, and the way national and international regulators operate-and cooperate. In her opinion, UNIDROIT instruments have been of utmost importance for the legal strategies she designed for:
• DANPREIT (Dispute Analytics Platform for Real Estate Investment Trusts in the Agriculture, Construction and Mining industries).
• TELEKAIROS, innovative methodology that incorporates the use of space assets.
• Corporate art collections, restitutions, including donations, sponsorships, and loans to museums.
• Contracts used by a German waterworks company willing to grow in all the Caribbean and Central American countries.
• Liquidation of commercial and investment banks
• IPOs and reverse mergers for companies in the extraction industries (Canadian stock exchange), ILS listed in Bermuda and African sovereign funds listed in London.
• Franchising and other commercial contracts in the food & drinks, health, aero-space, and automotive industries.
In the last three decades Prof. Veytia has lived, and successfully completed investments and disinvestments in more than forty countries in the five Continents. She is frequently appointed as arbitrator and invited as speaker on risk transfers at international industry conferences in fields of her expertise: energy (both renewable and traditional), artificial intelligence, infrastructure, mining, real estate, agriculture, rail, space, automotive, and franchising. She sits in the board of directors of companies in Europe including the United Kingdom.
Anna Veneziano is the Deputy Secretary General of the International Institute for the Unification of Private Law (UNIDROIT). She is a Professor of Comparative Law at the University of Teramo, Italy, where she was formerly the Director of the Department of Private Law. She has also formerly been a tenured Professor of European Property Law at the University of Amsterdam (UvA). Her education includes a Law Degree with honours from the University of Rome La Sapienza, an LL.M degree from the Yale Law School funded by a Fulbright scholarship, and a PhD degree from the University of Florence (Italy).
Her main research and publication areas are on secured transactions as well as international, comparative, and European contract and sales law. Before joining UNIDROIT she was a member of the Italian delegation with respect to the Cape Town Convention on International Interests on Mobile Equipment and its Aircraft Protocol as well as its Space Protocol. She was also a member of the Study Group on a European Civil Code and of the Compilation and Redaction Group on a Draft Common Frame of Reference on European Private Law (DCFR), and of the restricted Expert Group set up by the European Commission on a common European law on sales.
P
rofessor Ignacio Tirado was appointed Secretary-General by the Governing Council at its 97th session, and officially took office on 27 August 2018. A national of Spain, Professor Tirado (Commercial, Corporate and Insolvency Law, Universidad Autónoma of Madrid, Spain) holds a PhD from the Universities of Bologna and Autónoma de Madrid and an LLM from the University of London. Professor Tirado has been a Senior Legal Consultant at the World Bank’s Legal Vice-Presidency and Financial Sector Practice for more than nine years, having also consulted for the IMF on insolvency related matters as well as for the Asian Development Bank on commercial legal reform.
Amongst other accolades to his professional experience, Professor Tirado is a founding member of the European Banking Institute, an International Fellow of the American College of Bankruptcy and has been Director and Academic Co-Chair of the International Insolvency Institute.
A Swedish national, Ms Lena Peters grew up in Italy where she attended an English school. In 1978 she took her Juris Kandidatexamen at Stockholm University followed by a Master of Laws from King’s College, London (1979). Since 1985 she has been with UNIDROIT, first as Research Officer, lastly as Principal Legal Officer, her main duties being Secretary to the Working Group for the Preparation of Principles of International Commercial Contracts, Secretary to the Study Group on Franchising, Secretary to the Committee of Governmental Experts on Franchising.She also collaborated on the project for the preparation of the ELI-Unidroit Model European Rules of Civil Procedure. She is currently Managing Editor of the Uniform Law Review and responsible for publications at UNIDROIT.
Marina Schneider is Principal Legal Officer and Treaty Depositary at UNIDROIT. She studied law at the University of Strasbourg (France) and Paris I – Panthéon Sorbonne. She joined the UNIDROIT in 1987 and was involved in the elaboration and French versions of most UNIDROIT instruments since. She is in charge of the 1995 UNIDROIT Convention on Stolen or Illegally Exported Cultural Objects and of the UNESCO-UNIDROIT Model Provisions on State Ownership of Undiscovered Cultural Objects. She is the author of the Explanatory Report of the 1995 Convention and many articles on the Convention and other international instruments in the field. Ms Schneider is also responsible for the project on private collections and for the UNIDROIT Convention Academic Project (UCAP). She is member of the Board of the International Society for Research on Art and Cultural Heritage Law (ISCHAL).
Professor of Commercial Law, Carlos III University of Madrid. Currently, Sir Roy Goode Scholar at UNIDROIT, Rome, 2021-2022. Chair of Excellence 2017-2018 at University of Oxford (Uc3m- Santander Program), affiliated to Harris Manchester College. Previously Distinguished Visiting Professor and fellow of a number of Academic Institutions. Arbitrator of Madrid Court of Arbitration. Member of ELI (European Law Institute) Council and Executive Committee. Member of the Expert Group of the European Commission on Liability and New Technologies and member of the Expert Group of the European Observatory of Platform Economy; the International Academy of Commercial and Consumer Law; the expert group of the Inclusive Global Legal Innovation Platform for Online Dispute Resolution – UNCITRAL and Hong Kong Department of Justice. Expert of the UNIDROIT Study Group on the MAC Protocol of the Cape Town Convention on International Interests. Delegate of Spain to UNIDROIT for the adoption of the Protocol, delegate of Spain in Working Group VI of UNCITRAL on secured transactions and in Working Group IV on Electronic Commerce. Member of UNIDROIT Working Groups on Enforcement and Warehouse Receipts.
William Brydie-Watson is an Australian lawyer who specialises in secured transactions law and private international law. Before joining UNIDROIT, William was a government lawyer in the Private International Law and International Arbitration section of the Australian Attorney-General’s Department, where he worked primarily on treaty negotiation and the implementation of private international law treaties in Australia. At UNIDROIT, he is primarily responsible for the implementation of the Mining, Agriculture and Construction (MAC Protocol) to the 2001 Cape Town Convention on International Interests in Mobile Equipment and the development of a Model Law on Factoring. William also serves as UNIDROIT’s liaison with the Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) forum and as manager of the Institute’s Scholarship and Internship Programme. Admitted to practice in New South Wales and the High Court of Australia, he has a Bachelor of Arts (honours), a Bachelor of Laws and a Master of Laws from the Australian National University. William also lectures on International Secured Transactions Law at the Eotvos Lorand Faculty of Law in Budapest.
