The latest Latin America M&A IBA conference opened in South Beach, Miami, on the 13th of March to the 15th. Welcoming more than 500 delegates from 31 countries, the current vice president and next president of the IBA, Jaime Carey promised to continue with the major projects started under current president, Almundena Arpon de Mendivil’s reign. The aim is “to have continuity with long term projection and implementation” according to Carey.
Carey’s presidency will be based on three pillars. Firstly, looking at ways in which Artificial Intelligence can offer practical help with support and content delivery to benefit IBA members. The second concerns improving communications within the IBA. “We want to encourage more content and speakers from various jurisdictions, particularly those in Africa and Asia,” said Carey adding that in the past language issues might have prevented useful insight from expert speakers appearing at IBA events. The third aim of Jaime Carey’s presidency is to have 50/50 gender diversity by 2030. The IBA is making good progress on this “with most committees having diverse panels already,” claimed Carey.
The conference was scheduled to take place in Quito, Ecuador but was moved to Miami due to the recent unrest in the city. It took only five days to move the programme and arrange the relocated conference. Carey was delighted to be back in Miami but was very sad that it wasn’t possible to meet in Quito this time. Thanking all those involved in organising the Ecuador conference, Carey was sure “we will back there soon,” adding he was happy to see so many friends from other jurisdictions: “this is such a great group of Latin American lawyers. You can feel the ambiance of enthusiasm, camaraderie and friendship in the air.”
David Adams, Managing Editor, Top Ranked Legal
Miami, Florida