The regulatory landscape in Latin America

Latin America is not known as a region with clear and comprehensible regulatory landscapes. To the contrary, regulations across the region can be both complex and fast-changing, regardless of industry. The bureaucratic and often logic-defying nature of many regulations, and at times erratic enforcement by responsible agencies, can be off-putting. 

Accordingly, many countries in the region feature rather low down in the World Bank’s global “Ease of Doing Business” rankings. Many governments in the region have been making efforts to introduce more business-friendly legislation, though success is often subject to political will.

In one successful example, a recent World Bank report on competition in Latin America and the Caribbean cited research on the impact of antitrust penalties imposed by Mexico’s competition authority between 1993 and 2018. During this time, an astonishing 40% of economic activity was investigated for anti-competitive practices. The research showed that as a result of financial sanctions imposed, aggregate sales of the sectors impacted rose as much as 5.8%, pointing to effective policy implementation.

International companies keen to expand into Latin America shouldn’t be put off. Thorough, in-depth and up-to-date market research will lay the groundwork needed to make the right decision on market entry.

At Broadminded, our expert team of market researchers tracks the Latin American regulatory landscape carefully to provide accurate and up-to-date information helping clients to mitigate risk and take advantage of opportunities.

Whether your company is operating in a well-established or nascent industry, you can count on our research team to help you understand local regulations.