ChinaLat Law : China and Latin America Litigation Lawyer & Attorney : Diaz, Reus, Rolff & Targ Law Firm : Trade, Business, Dispute Resolution

Chinese citizens, flush with cash now, are beginning to aggressively seek to invest abroad. One of the investments of extreme interest is U.S. residential property. But, they are unsure if it is possible to purchase it. They are always pleased to know that the U.S. places no restrictions on the purchase of residential real estate by foreigners, including Chinese citizens. However, ownership alone does not guarantee entry into the country and some ownership benefits could be denied.

Chinese citizens are likely to be treated differently than U.S. citizens (not by the U.S. or State governments) in one area – financing or mortgaging the home. Banks will typically only lend money to those who have established credit histories which have been created and maintained by U.S. credit agencies. Chinese citizens are unlikely to have this so financing a home through a U.S. bank is nearly impossible.

Another problem Chinese citizens are likely to face is being unable to actually live in the home and possibly not even be able to visit. The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) and the United States Citizen and Immigration Service (USCIS) handle visa and immigration applications as well as examine foreigners who wish to enter the country. Generally, a Chinese citizen who simply owns a residential property in the U.S. and wishes to move into or just visit it, is ineligible to enter the country. There may be possibilities however, and an immigration lawyer would need to be consulted.

One other difference between Chinese citizens and U.S. citizens in the treatment of their status with regard to U.S. residential property is the Homestead Provision. This is the ability to shield the value of a primary residential property from creditors. A home is just like any other asset and as such can be subject to a forced sale for the benefit of creditors (except government, mechanics’ lien, and mortgagees). But most States have shielded the home from such forced sale up to a certain amount. Florida, however, has the most protection – the amount is unlimited.

However, the Florida Homestead Provision only attaches for those who are residents of Florida. So, therefore, a Chinese citizen who does not live in the home does not have this protection.

For a Chinese citizen who wants to buy U.S. real estate – there is good news and bad news. The good news is that there are no restrictions in purchasing a home in the U.S. However, the bad news is that they may not be able to live in it and if not a resident, they will not be able to enjoy the full benefits available.
 

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 Posted on China.com.cn, Oct. 22, 2008

An Interview with Mr. Michael Diaz: Enterprises should Adapt Actively to Labor Law of PRC.

“The Third Annual Conference on Dispute Avoidance and Resolution” was held in Beijing through October 13, 2008 to October 14, 2008. During the meeting the journalist interviewed Mr. Michael Diaz, a partner of Diaz Reus Law Firm headquartered in America. Mr. Diaz talked about his personal opinions as to how enterprises should cope with risks and how lawyers should serve enterprises.

Q: Diaz Reus is an international law firm that provide full service, and it has its offices in America, Latin America, Europe, Asia and the Middle East. I want to know if Diaz Reus has any plans of opening representative office in China in the future?

Michael Diaz (M for abbreviation): Yes, we are now planning to open offices in China. Although, the license for Shanghai office is pending, and I think, we will get our license soon.

Q: I have read the introduction to Diaz Reus’s service range. You provide extensive legal services, including a great number of foreign-related services, for your clients, which means that you have to deal with clients and governments from lots of different countries. What do you think is the greatest challenge for a law firm to expand its businesses in another country?

M: The greatest challenge, I think, is to know the local laws. The local government will have lots of restrictions to foreign-invested firms, such as the range of services. Therefore, we want cooperation with local law firms. We don’t want to compete with them. It will be easier for us to do our businesses if there are local lawyers who are willing to help us dealing with problems we met. Besides, we can have a good understanding of local laws through dealing with cases.

Q: The Chinese government enacted the new Labor Law of the People’s Republic of China at the beginning of this year, which has aroused extensive discussion in the society. Particularly some of the enterprises responded in an intense way. But now the situation seems to have been getting better. As a lawyer, what do you think of this law?

M: I think it is a very good law and I don’t think it will bring adverse effects to enterprises.

Q: Since the implementation of the Labor Law, the disputes between enterprises and laborers have been accelerating. Some enterprises think that this law shows partiality for the laborers and increases the cost of enterprises. But still more people believe that enterprises were profit-centered and ignored the lawful interests of workers before. The publishing of this law not only explicitly make clear the rights and interests of workers but also enhance the awareness of them to protect their lawful interests. Therefore it’s normal that disputes increase. The disputes between employers and employees will gradually decrease as the enterprises learn more about the Law of Labor’s. What’s your opinion?

M: China has become increasingly important in its financial status around the world with its economic development. The government therefore begins to enhance its protection of the employees and the enterprises must try to adapt to this law. Employees are the essential part of enterprises. Without labor force, there would be no profits of the enterprises.

Q: Now lots of big companies can’t decide whether they should set up their own legal department inside the company or they should depend completely on professional law firms. What do you think is the most suitable way for enterprises?

M: This is a good question. It is difficult, and almost impossible, for the legal consultant of a big company to deal with all the legal problems in an adequate way. When there are some complicated legal problems, it would be a good choice for the legal consultant to deal with a quarter or one half of the problems themselves and then seek help from professional law firms for the rest of the work. In this way they can get professional and top-quality services; besides, they’ll be able to have the time and energy to reconsider the whole event. Moreover, the company can reduce its expenses by seeking help from professional law firms for some of its businesses.

Q: Do you have any good methods to help company reduce the number of its legal disputes?

M: First we will try to deeply understand the operating situation of the company in a bid to find out in which respects will a legal disputes most probably occur. Then we will draw up relevant rules and regulations to avoid or reduce the disputes. It will be difficult to let those leaders do by the laws if they are devoid of legal awareness. At this time you should tell him some of the cases in which great disputes happen because of the company’s lack of attention to law. If you explain to them the advantages of doing by the law and the disadvantages of ignoring the law, they will agree with you and accept your suggestions.

Link: http://big5.china.com.cn/law/txt/2008-10/22/content_16650071.htm

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DISPUTE AVOIDANCE AND RESOLUTION CONFERENCE HELD IN BEIJING DEEMED SUCCESS BY ORGANIZERS  

BEIJING – Over 200 business and government leaders primarily from China and America attended the Third Annual Conference on Dispute Avoidance and Resolution presented by LexisNexis and sponsored by international law firm Diaz Reus & Targ, LLP. Held at the Swissotel Beijing on 13-14 October, the conference focused on topics critical to international business success such as resolving intellectual property disputes in China, finding creative solutions to cross-border disputes and achieving better risk control.

Conference chair Michael Diaz, Jr., managing partner of Diaz Reus & Targ, LLP, spoke about trends in international arbitration to resolve disputes in a global economy. "The conference was extremely well received and supported by the Chinese authorities as reflected by the opening day keynote speech by Dr. Zhang Genda of the Supreme Peoples Court of the PRC, and the closing day address by the Vice Secretary General Jianlong Yu of CIETAC,” said Diaz. “Clearly, China understands the importance of dispute avoidance as it continues to expand its trading and financial presence throughout the global marketplace,  preferring to work towards a settlement rather than engage in costly litigation".

Miami, Florida-based Diaz Reus & Targ, LLP is a full-service international law firm with offices in Latin America, Europe, Asia and the Middle East. The firm’s lawyers focus on international trade and business transactions and complex commercial, civil, and criminal litigation and arbitration matters.

Conference presenter LexisNexis is a leading provider of comprehensive information and business solutions to professionals in legal, risk management, corporate, government, law enforcement, accounting and academic. A member of Reed Elsevier Group plc <http://www.reed-elsevier.com/> , LexisNexis provides customers access to 5 billion searchable documents from more than 32,000 legal, news and business sources.

For more information about the conference, contact

Tracy Zhang at (8621) 52286122 * 113, (tracy.zhang@lexisnexis.com),

Michael Diaz at (305) 375-9220, (mdiaz@diazreus.com), or

Samantha Hu at shu@diazreus.com.

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        尽管出现全球性的经济危机，很多投资机遇依然出现在一些新兴经济体中。智利以其稳定的宏观经济和对外资采取的开放态度闻名，对于全球投资者来说，智利将是一处富含商机的宝地。

        智利的这种商业氛围来源于由智利政府推动的一项商业战略。此战略将建立优秀的宏观经济基础和强大的商业机构，提倡竞争和促进国际商业一体化作为其中心要务。而智利开放的经济又使这些比较优势得到进一步的改善。这意味着智利不仅拥有更强大的竞争力，而且低关税，外贸水平不断提高，并且能够快速地与世界市场融合。此外，智利现代化的通信系统，在国际范围内富含竞争力的银行部门，优秀的基础设施以及高品质、专业的服务也在吸引外资上扮演了关键角色。

        在20世纪70年代末及80年代，智利在拉丁美洲第一个开始了结构改革，建立了后来为许多国家，包括美国，所效仿的私人养老金制度。20世纪末，正在进行中的私有化，公共工程优惠计划――“公私合作计划”，进口关税的降低，以及对国家资本和金融市场放松管制的做法都将这一改革进程再往前推进了一步。此外，在2004年，“公平竞争法庭”代替了原来的“反信托委员会”，以促进自由竞争。2005年，新法施行加强了对工业产权，包括TRIPS标准的保护，

        智利的法律法规增强了自由和经济自由。事实上在2006年，由美国遗产基金会公布的智利“经济自由指数”（在161个经济体中处于第14位）和由加拿大弗雷泽研究所公布的“经济自由等级”（在130个经济体中处于第20位）均世界排名领先。

        这些进步和智利强大的社会凝聚力吸引了“国际货币基金组织（IMF）”的注意。据IMF第五号咨询条款调查显示，“智利新政府致力于保证国家经济正常持续发展，同时尽力为民众提供一个广泛的社会保障体系。为完成这些目标，一系列政策倡议被智利政府提上议程。”

        其它排行，比如由“经济学人信息部（EIU）”公布的“商业环境排行”还显示，智利在接下来的五年里将是全球第22位最吸引外资的国家。即是说，智利的排行在西班牙和以色列之间。

        国际公司在享受智利政府提供的战略和安全平台的同时，通过开发新项目或通过兼并及收购不断地、稳定地渗入到经济的各个部门。今天，全球有64个国家的超过4000家公司在智利进行投资。并且，得益于智利不断增长的自由贸易体系，这些公司不仅聚焦于国内市场，而且享有与全球10亿多消费者做生意的特权。

费德里克. 塔博亚 (Federico Tabja)

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