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Good morning from the GLE Editorial desk. South America's largest economies are rewriting core rules at once. Brazil is overhauling its entire tax system, Argentina has passed its most sweeping labour reform in decades, and the Andean states are moving to regulate artificial intelligence. For counsel advising investors and businesses across the region, the regulatory ground is shifting on several fronts at the same time.
Joel Gordon, Editorial · Global Law Experts
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Quick digest
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Brazil's tax reform replaces PIS/COFINS, ICMS and ISS with new VAT-style CBS and IBS taxes, with e-invoicing required to carry the new tax data from 1 August 2026.
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Brazil is courting digital investment with new REDATA and REPES regimes for datacenters and IT-export platforms, positioning itself as a regional hub for digital services.
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Argentina enacted its Labour Modernization Law on 6 March 2026, its biggest change to labour relations in decades, including a new employer-funded termination fund.
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Peru is phasing in a framework for developing and using AI systems, with sectoral deadlines falling between 2026 and 2028.
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Chile and Colombia are advancing their own AI-regulation proposals, signalling a broader regional move toward formal AI rules.
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Jurisdictions covered
Brazil · Argentina · Colombia · Peru · Chile · Uruguay
Lawyers featured in this edition
Leonardo Theon de Moraes · Marta Mendes
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What mattered this fortnight
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Brazil's Tax Overhaul Starts to Bite, With New VAT-Style Taxes on the Invoice From August
Brazil's landmark tax reform replaces PIS/COFINS with a new federal VAT (CBS) and consolidates ICMS and ISS into a unified subnational VAT (IBS), with a combined reference rate around 26.5% and a transition running to 2033. From 1 August 2026, businesses must issue electronic tax documents carrying the new CBS and IBS information, the first hard operational step of the new system.
Why it matters for counsel: Every business operating in Brazil needs its invoicing systems and tax mapping ready for the 1 August data requirement, and deal teams must re-price the tax assumptions baked into Brazilian transactions across the long transition. The reform changes both day-to-day compliance and the economics of investment.
Read the full analysis →
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Argentina Passes Its Most Sweeping Labour Reform in Decades
Argentina enacted its Labour Modernization Law on 6 March 2026, a 196-article reform reaching well beyond the Employment Contract Law into collective bargaining, labour procedure, severance and employer costs. It introduces a mandatory, employer-funded termination fund (the Fondo de Asistencia Laboral) and reworks the liability regime for outsourcing and personnel-supply arrangements.
Why it matters for counsel: Employers in Argentina need to re-model termination costs around the new fund and revisit outsourcing structures against the changed liability rules. This is the most consequential shift to Argentine labour relations in a generation, and workforce, contracting and budgeting decisions all turn on it.
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As Brazil Resets the Regional Tax Benchmark, Colombia Weighs Its Own Modernization
Brazil's move to a VAT-style system is sharpening a wider Latin American conversation about modernising tax, broadening the base and capturing the digital economy. In Colombia, where fiscal pressure and successive reform attempts have kept tax high on the agenda, investors and businesses are watching closely for how far the country follows the regional direction of travel.
Why it matters for counsel: Cross-border investors with Colombian and regional exposure should plan for a tax landscape that is modernising and tightening, not standing still, and keep structures flexible. Watching the regional benchmark is now part of Colombian tax planning, not a separate exercise.
Read the full analysis →
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PERU · ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE |
Peru Starts Phasing In an AI Framework, Sector by Sector
Peru is rolling out a technical and legal framework for developing and using AI systems, with sectoral deadlines staggered between 2026 and 2028. It places Peru among the first South American states to move from principles toward enforceable, sector-specific AI obligations.
Why it matters for counsel: Businesses deploying AI in Peru should identify which sectoral deadline applies to them and build governance toward it now, rather than waiting for the final tranche. Early movers will find the phased timeline a manageable runway; latecomers will face it all at once.
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CHILE · ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE |
Chile and Colombia Advance AI Bills as the Region Moves Toward Formal Rules
Chile and Colombia are among the South American countries advancing legislation to regulate artificial intelligence, joining Peru's phased framework and signalling a regional shift from voluntary principles toward binding rules. The proposals differ in scope and approach, but the direction is consistent across the continent.
Why it matters for counsel: Businesses operating AI across several South American markets should expect a patchwork of national rules rather than a single regional standard, and start building governance that can flex across jurisdictions. Mapping the divergences early avoids retrofitting compliance country by country later.
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BRAZIL – DATA PROTECTION
Brazil Nears EU "Adequacy" for Personal-Data Transfers
The European Commission has published a draft decision finding that Brazil provides a level of data protection "essentially equivalent" to the GDPR, a step toward smoother EU-Brazil data flows. Businesses moving data between the EU and Brazil should track the decision, which would simplify transfer compliance once finalised.
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BRAZIL – DIGITAL ECONOMY
REDATA and REPES Offer Tax Incentives to Build Brazil's Datacenter and IT-Export Base
New special regimes, REDATA for datacenter services and REPES for IT-export platforms, offer tax incentives aimed at attracting digital-infrastructure investment and positioning Brazil as a regional hub for digital services. Investors in datacenters or IT-export operations should assess eligibility and the conditions attached to each regime.
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COLOMBIA – ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE
Colombia Advances Its Own AI Bill Alongside Peru and Chile
Colombia is among the South American states with AI legislation in progress, part of a regional push to move from voluntary principles toward formal rules. Companies deploying AI in Colombia should follow the bill's scope and risk-tiering as it develops.
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ANDEAN – MINING & ENERGY
Permitting and Community Consultation Stay Central to Andean Resource Projects
Across the Andean mining and energy economies of Peru, Chile and Colombia, permitting timelines, prior-consultation obligations and shifting fiscal terms remain the decisive variables for resource investors. Project sponsors should treat social licence and permitting as core deal risk, not a late-stage formality.
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ARGENTINA – INVESTMENT
The RIGI Large-Investment Incentive Regime Keeps Drawing Major Project Capital
Argentina's incentive regime for large investments continues to channel capital into energy, mining and infrastructure with tax, customs and currency benefits, sitting alongside the new labour reform as part of the broader pro-investment agenda. Sponsors of qualifying projects should weigh the regime's commitments against its long-term stability guarantees.
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URUGUAY – INVESTMENT
Uruguay Keeps Its Pitch as the Region's Stable, Rules-Based Hub
Against a backdrop of regional change, Uruguay continues to position itself on institutional stability, free-zone incentives and a predictable legal environment for regional headquarters and services. Groups seeking a lower-volatility base in the Southern Cone should weigh Uruguay's incentives and treaty network.
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REGIONAL – ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE
A South American AI-Rules Wave Is Taking Shape, Country by Country
With Peru phasing in obligations and Chile and Colombia advancing bills, the continent is moving toward formal AI regulation, but along divergent national paths rather than a single model. Regional AI deployers should plan for a multi-jurisdiction patchwork and design governance that flexes across it.
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REGIONAL – TAX
Brazil's Reform Sharpens the Regional Push to Modernise Tax and Tax the Digital Economy
Brazil's shift to a VAT-style system is reinforcing a wider Latin American conversation about broadening tax bases and capturing digital activity, with neighbours watching the transition closely. Cross-border groups should expect a regional drift toward modernised, digitally-focused taxation and keep structures adaptable.
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Member spotlight
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Leonardo Theon de Moraes
TM Associados · Brazil · M&A
"We institutionalise our relationships with clients so the firm moves as one organism, not dependent on a single lawyer. Our clients treat us as their own in-house legal department, not an outside firm."
On advising Brazilian and multinational clients through corporate, tax and M&A work. Watch his GLE Q&A.
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Marta Mendes
BOTTI/Mendes Advogados · Brazil · Real Estate
"We blend real estate, tax and corporate expertise to design strategic, reliable structures that protect our clients' assets and optimise their investments."
On structuring real estate and corporate deals in Brazil. Watch her GLE Q&A.
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What we're tracking next
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1 August: Brazilian businesses must begin issuing electronic tax documents carrying the new CBS and IBS data, the first hard operational step of the tax reform. |
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2026 to 2028: Peru's AI framework phases in by sector, the first staged AI deadlines in the region, with Chile and Colombia's bills advancing behind it. |
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Through 2026: Argentina's Labour Modernization Law beds in, including the new termination fund, while the RIGI regime continues to channel capital into major projects. |
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Open calls for commentary
Every edition of this briefing reaches senior lawyers across the global legal community, together with the in-house counsel and business decision-makers who turn to Global Law Experts for verified intelligence on the developments shaping their markets.
When you contribute, your reading of a development becomes the practitioner voice that audience reads, published under your name, your firm and your jurisdiction. It is a direct way to be seen by your peers and by prospective clients as a leading authority on the issues moving in your market.
If a legal or regulatory development in your jurisdiction is worth flagging for the next edition, reply to this email with your jurisdiction and your take. We attribute every contributor by name, firm and country.
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Contributors this fortnight
Leonardo Theon de Moraes, TM Associados, Brazil
Marta Mendes, BOTTI/Mendes Advogados, Brazil
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