With U.S.-Cuban relations moving steadily toward
normalization, Stikeman Elliott partner Erik Richer La
Flèche shares some of his personal experiences as an advisor
on investment into Cuba. While opportunities exist for those
willing to navigate the country's complex bureaucracy, it
is important to be cautious and realistic about the extent of the
changes that may be coming.
Every decade or so the economic promise of Cuba appears on the
radar screen of international investors.
With the disintegration of the Soviet Union in December of 1991,
Cuba lost its main benefactor. Confronted with severe economic
hardship – the years following the fall of the U.S.S.R. were
euphemistically called the "Special Period" – Cuba
began opening to foreign investment and in 1995 adopted Law 77
(Foreign Investment Act).
