OBA International Law / CBA INternational Law Section PROGRAM
Original Program Date: April 29, 2020

Join us as our stellar faculty examines Canada's business relationship with its longest standing free trade partners, the United States and Mexico. With close geographic proximity and similar business cultures, these markets are common destinations for Canadian exporters and investors making business forays outside of Canada for the first time. A renegotiated NAFTA, the "Canada United States Mexico Agreement", was concluded at the end of 2019 and is expected to enter into force in 2020. It is therefore timely for Canadian businesses with links to the U.S. or Mexico, or plans to expand to these partners, to review their business structures in 2020 to identify risks and opportunities, both under the CUSMA and in general.

This program is part of a joint regional and national CBA Series called the DBI Series, which is an ongoing collection of programs exploring legal issues arising from growth via exporting, direct investing and doing business abroad. The series will survey the knowledge that advisors and business leaders need to help Canadian businesses reach new international markets. Each session will examine the key legal and commercial considerations for expanding a Canadian business into a new geographic region. Speakers from export-supporting agencies and lawyers in private practice (both Canadian and foreign) will provide multidisciplinary, high-level reviews of important areas such as:

• Business licenses and registrations
• Corporate structure options for establishing a foreign operation (e.g. subsidiary vs. branch, joint venture, or non-resident)
• Local income tax, commodity tax, customs, employment and immigration issues
• When and how to retain foreign counsel, customs brokers and other advisors
• Speakers will also identify any idiosyncrasies of the jurisdictions in question to help avoid common pitfalls, such as corruption risk, cultural or language issues, requirements for local joint venture or strategic partners, or other considerations
• Special considerations and impacts related to COVID-19 and its aftermath

PROGRAM CHAIRS

Jessica Horwitz, Bennett Jones LLP
Raghav Jain, Student-at-Law

MODERATOR

Jessica Horwitz, Bennett Jones LLP

PROGRAM SPEAKERS

David Archer, President, MTP Mexico and Lead Facilitator, Trade Accelerator Program
Lura H. Bechtel, Hodgson Russ LLP
R. Kent Roberts, Hodgson Russ LLP
Turenna Ramirez Ortiz, Sánchez Devanny