Whenever my law firm is retained to represent a company that is looking to provide goods or services to a new overseas buyer. China, one of the first things we want to know are the payment terms. If our client is going to get 100% payment before it provides thegoods or services, a written contract may not even be necessary. The old expression about posession being nine tenths of the law holds true, though I'd probably update it to say that it's 99 percent of the law when it comes to selling to many emerging market countries.

Best Practices for Emerging Market Countries. The two minute version. Make the law your friend. Use good contracts. Protect your IP.

Russia's invasion of Ukraine starkly illustrates the risk of cozying up to China, which Latam governments and countries should heed. The international community's strong repudiation of Russia's invasion of Ukraine highlights the risks of snuggling up to autocracies, in particular those with military adventurism in mind. As governments and companies in Latam increase their China exposure, they should be mindful of these risks, with Chinese characteristics.

But lately our international litigation team has been seeing a vertible ton of a particularly sinster scam: The “Sha Zhu Pan” (Chinese: 杀猪盘) or, “Butchering the Pig” scam. The typical email we receive from a victim of this forex or crypto scam is usually something like this.