Read the latest news
Corporate Governance requirements for the issuance of securities by simplified stock companies.

Simplified stock companies ("SAS") must comply with the following requirements: (i) have a Board of Directors made up of at least three (3) principal members, (ii) in the event that it does not have a fiscal auditor, it must make the necessary arrangements to have such a figure; and (iii) constitute an audit committee, which will be made up of at least three (3) members of the board of directors, including the independent member, who will be the president.

Benefits for investments in non-conventional energy sources.

The Mining and Energy Planning Unit (UPME) established the requirements and procedure to access tax benefits like income tax deduction and VAT exclusion for investments in projects using non-conventional energy sources.

The “Safe Travel” seal is implemented as tourism seeks to regain consumer confidence.

The “Safe Travel” seal was created by the World Travel and Tourism Council (WTTC) to help the recovery of the tourism sector by restoring trust among travelers and coordinating the global public and private sectors in favor of reactivating this economic segment. Colombia, as a "Safe Travels" destination, may issue the "Safe Travels" seal to those who comply with the biosecurity protocols issued by the Ministry of Health and Social Protection. 

What happened to oil prices?
By Marianna Boza – Energy and Natural Resources

Over the past few weeks, crude oil prices have fallen repeatedly, reaching its lowest price since May on Tuesday. Thus, on Tuesday, September 8, 2020, the price of WTI plummeted by 9% to US$36.13 a barrel, while Brent, meanwhile, fell below US$40 a barrel for the first time since June.

The reasons for this fall are due to a number of factors: (i) U.S. crude oil stocks increased by 1.8 million barrels to 10 mbd; (ii) the Energy Information Administration (IEA) reduced its forecast for global oil demand growth by 2020 by 210,000 barrels per day to 8.32 mbpd while OPEC foresee a contraction of 9.5 mbpd; (iii) demand for crude oil has dropped while supply has increased due to a slow recovery from the COVID-19 crisis and a potential second wave of the pandemic; (iv) Saudi Arabia, the leader of OPEC, cut its official selling price to Asia and the United States; and (v) China's reduction in demand for crude oil.

To highlight, the production cuts agreed by OPEC+ helped the recovery and were the main driver of the stabilization of crude oil prices. The initial cut of 9.7 mbpd applied between May and July 2020; in August the production cut quota was reduced to 7.7 mbpd, applicable until December. A further cut to 5.8 mbpd is expected by 2021 but was not approved at the OPEC+ meeting on Thursday 17 September. However, it was agreed that the overproduction of Iraq, Nigeria and Saudi Arabia could be compensated until the end of December 2020