The Free Zones, ruled in our positive law by the Law Nº 15921, are fenced areas of the national territory taken away from the Customs jurisdiction in which the merchandise that comes from foreign countries may enter without payment of duties and leave the country in the same way that they have entered, or after a process of production.

On November 9, 2007, the Official Gazette published General Resolution No. 519 (the “Resolution”) of the National Securities Commission (the “NSC”), which incorporates to the NT 2001 Norms (the “Norms”) new regulations for the creation of financial trusts and closed common investment funds for easing the financing of small and medium-sized undertakings (henceforth, “SMUs”).

On December 21st, 2007, the Official Gazette, published General Resolution No 2,371 (the “Resolution”) of the Tax Authorities that provides that the seller of a property when negotiating, offering for sale or transferring (a) a property in Argentina, or (b) rights over a property to be built, shall inform the Tax Authorities, if the fiscal value of the property to be transferred, is equal or above AR$300,000 (three hundred thousand Argentinean pesos).

International adoptions in the Dominican Republic are governed by Law #136-03. All adoptions must be done through an official Dominican government entity called CONANI (“Consejo Nacional para la Niñez y la Adolescencia” - National Council for Children and Adolescents). Private adoptions are not possible under the Law. All children are assigned to the adopting parents by CONANI.

It is a matter of public policy in many countries that only their courts have the power to grant a divorce to their residents. A divorce obtained in a foreign jurisdiction would therefore be considered invalid. This principle is sometimes not considered applicable, however, in cases when both parties agree to the divorce.

Foreigners wishing to live or work permanently in the Dominican Republic are required to obtain residency status. Obtaining permanent residency in the Dominican Republic is a three-step process

The most common business entity in the Dominican Republic is the corporation, locally called “Sociedad Anónima” (S.A.) or “Compañía por Acciones” (C. por A.). As corporations in other countries, Dominican corporations are legal persons which exist independently of its shareholders. Likewise, the liability of the shareholders is limited to the amount of their contribution to the corporation.

Labor relationships in the Dominican Republic are governed by Law No. 16-92 of May 29, 1992, commonly known as the Labor Code, which is characterized by its strong and sometimes inflexible protection of the rights of the individual employee.

Real estate transactions in the Dominican Republic are governed by Property Registry Law No. 108-05 and its Regulations, in force since April 4, 2007. Ownership of property is documented by Certificates of Title issued by Title Registry Offices.

The Legal Intricacies of Doing Business in Puerto Rico

A complete Guide for doing business in Guatemala.

Adoption is a very important and life changing process affecting the lives of human beings in two families; thus is needless to say is a time-consuming and expensive legal procedure that can be carry out only by wealthy individuals willing to invest time, money and patience in order to achieve it.

Dominican Republic special divorce is available to foreigners or Dominican citizens residing abroad, when both spouses agree to file this divorce before Dominican Courts. 24-Hour divorce is available in Dominican Republic.

New legislature on Intellectual Property (law 20-00 of May 2000 on industrial property and 65-00 of August 2000 on copyrights) has been enacted in order to comply with provisions of agreement signed by countries with the World Trade Organization (WTO) on Trade-Related Intellectual Property Aspects (TRIPS).

On November 3, 2006, Resolution No. 13/2006 of the Public Registry of Commerce (the “Resolution”) was published in the Official Gazette. The Resolution comes to complete the relevant request for calling a shareholders’ meeting by members of the board of directors of local companies.

On October 24, 2007, the Official Gazette published General Resolution No. 2,325 of the Federal Tax Administration (the “AFIP”), and the General Resolution No. 5/2007 of the Public Registry of Commerce

Tourism investments in Uruguay, South America, has increased in the last years. This industry is increasing its participation, year after year, in the GDP of the country. Uruguay is regionally famous specially for the hundred of kilometres of beaches in its coast and the interest shown by international hotel chains to have presence in the country, especially in Montevideo, the well known beach resort Punta del Este and Colonia, close to Buenos Aires.