Pemex makes a profit: Mexico’s state oil company Pemex reported a net profit of MX$87.94bn (US$4.69bn) in the first quarter, citing lower financial costs and a recovery in the international prices of crude oil and other fuels. This was the second consecutive quarter in the black, after years of losses. The company’s finance director, Juan Pablo Newman, said that it was the first time in six years that the company had reported net profits for two consecutive quarters. Revenues surged by 54.9% to MX$348.5bn (US$18.33bn), lifted by exports, which were up by 85.8% in value terms, despite a 3.6% fall…

Under Article 422 of the 2008 constitution (introduced by President Rafael Correa), Ecuador is prohibited from entering into instruments whereby “the State yields sovereign jurisdiction in the international arbitration of disputes with private individuals or corporations”. Ecuador had signed 29 BITs in all before President Correa and his left-wing party, Alianza Pais (AP), won election in 2007 pledging a ‘Citizen’s Revolution’. Two of these treaties were signed but never took force, leaving 27 in effect. The new government wasted little time in signalling its disdain for these treaties, which Correa said threatened national sovereignty. In early 2008, Ecuador unilaterally terminated…

Regional governments are seeking to work together to tackle the blight of corruption. On 8 May, the Ecuadorean national Carlos ‘Charlie’ Pareja Cordero, wanted in connection with corruption at the state oil company Petroecuador, was detained in Lima, Peru. It will be up to the Peruvian judiciary to decide on Quito’s extradition request, but Ecuador’s outgoing President Rafael Correa, who leaves office on 24 May, appeared keen to deliver a scalp before he leaves. His final year in office, as well as the campaign for the February 2017 general election, was badly scarred by the emergence of corruption scandals implicating members of his…

April saw the first anniversary of the so-called ‘Panama Papers’ scandal – the leak of around 11.5m confidential documents from the offices of Mossack Fonseca, a Panama-based offshore law firm, which revealed a vast network of shell companies being used for money-laundering and tax evasion purposes. One year on, the scandal is still having an impact on Panama. The Mossack Fonseca scandal had a significant negative impact on Panama’s reputation. As a result of the leak, around 150 investigations were begun in 79 countries, looking at a wide range of illicit financial transactions. The prime minister of Iceland was forced…