2023 Investment Climate Statements: Guatemala

Policies Towards Foreign Direct Investment

The Guatemalan government continues to promote investment opportunities and work on reforms to enhance competitiveness and the business environment. As part of the government’s efforts to promote economic recovery during and after the COVID-19 pandemic, the Ministry of Economy (MINECO) began implementing an economic recovery plan in September 2020, which focused on recovering lost jobs and generating new jobs, attracting new strategic investment, and promoting consumption of Guatemalan goods and services locally and globally. In February 2021, Guatemalan government and private sector representatives signed the public-private cooperation agreement to implement the “Guatemala Moving Forward” Plan, a strategy incorporating various GOG agencies and focused on attracting investment to enhance economic growth and job creation. During 2021 and 2022 the Guatemalan congress approved some key economic legislation to improve the investment climate and foster economic growth, such as a leasing law, amendments to the free trade zone law, a law to simplify administrative procedures and requirements, and an insolvency law.

Guatemala’s investment promotion office operates within MINECO’s National Competitiveness Program (PRONACOM). PRONACOM supports potential foreign investors by offering information, assessment, coordination of country visits, contact referrals, and support with procedures and permits necessary to operate in the country. Services are offered to all investors without discrimination.

International investors tend to engage with the Guatemalan government via chambers of commerce and industry associations, and/or directly with specific government ministries. PRONACOM began to prioritize investment retention in 2020 and continued this policy throughout 2022.

Limits on Foreign Control and Right to Private Ownership and Establishment

The Guatemalan Constitution recognizes the right to hold private property and to engage in business activity. Foreign private entities can establish, acquire, and dispose freely of virtually any type of business interest, with the exception of some professional services as noted below. The Foreign Investment Law specifically notes that foreign investors enjoy the same rights of use, benefits, and ownership of property as Guatemalan citizens. Guatemalan law prohibits foreigners, however, from owning land immediately adjacent to rivers, oceans, and international borders.

Guatemalan law does not prohibit the formation of joint ventures or the purchase of local companies by foreign investors. The absence of a developed, liquid, and efficient capital market, in which shares of publicly owned firms are traded, makes equity acquisitions in the open market difficult. Most foreign firms operate through locally incorporated subsidiaries.

The law does not restrict foreign investment in the telecommunications, electrical power generation, airline, or ground-transportation sectors. The Foreign Investment Law removed limitations to foreign ownership in domestic airlines and ground-transport companies in January 2004. The Guatemalan government does not have a screening mechanism for inbound foreign investment.

Some professional services may only be supplied by professionals with locally-recognized academic credentials. Public notaries must be Guatemalan nationals. Foreign enterprises may provide licensed, professional services in Guatemala through a contract or other relationship with a Guatemalan company. As of 2010, Guatemalan law allows foreign insurance companies to open branches in Guatemala, a requirement under CAFTA-DR. This law requires foreign insurance companies to fully capitalize in Guatemala.

Other Investment Policy Reviews

Guatemala has been a World Trade Organization (WTO) member since 1995. The Guatemalan government had its last WTO trade policy review (TPR) in November 2016. In 2011, the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) conducted an investment policy review (IPR) on Guatemala. The WTO TPR highlighted Guatemala’s efforts to increase trade liberalization and economic reform efforts by eliminating export subsidies for free trade zones, export-focused manufacturing, and assembly operations (maquilas) regimes, as well as amendments to the government procurement law to improve transparency and efficiency. The WTO TPR noted that Guatemala continues to lack a general competition law and a corresponding competition authority. The UNCTAD IPR-recommended strengthening the public sector’s institutional capacity and highlighted that adopting a competition law and policy should be a priority in Guatemala’s development agenda. The government agreed to approve a competition law by November 2016 as part of its commitments under the Association Agreement with the European Union, but the draft law had not been approved as of March 2023. Other important recommendations from the UNCTAD IPR were to further explore alternative dispute resolution mechanisms and the establishment of specialized courts for commercial and land disputes, though the government had not made substantive progress on these recommendations as of March 2023.

Business Facilitation

The Guatemalan government has a business registration website ( https://eportal.registromercantil.gob.gt/ ), which facilitates on-line registration procedures for new businesses. Foreign companies that are incorporated locally are able to use the online business registration window, but the system is not yet available to other foreign companies. The commercial code amendments that entered into force in January 2018 reduced the time and costs to register a new business online. As of March 2023, the estimated time to register a new mercantile company online was from four to 36 hours and the estimated time to register a limited liability company online was three days. The estimated costs to register a new mercantile company and a new limited liability company were $19 and $230, respectively, as of March 2023. The procedures allow mercantile companies to receive their business registration certificates online. Every company must register with the business registry, the tax administration authority, the social security institute, and the labor ministry. Licenses, if required from the Ministry of Environment and Natural Resources, Ministry of Agriculture, Livestock and Food, and/or Ministry of Health and Social Assistance, add considerable additional time.

Outward Investment

Guatemala does not incentivize nor restrict outward investment.

Transparency of the Regulatory System

Tax, labor, environment, health, and safety laws do not directly impede investment in Guatemala. Bureaucratic hurdles are common for both domestic and foreign companies, including lengthy processes to obtain permits and licenses as well as to clear shipments through Customs. The legal and regulatory systems can be confusing and administrative decisions are often not transparent. Laws and regulations often contain few explicit criteria for government administrators, resulting in ambiguous requirements that are applied inconsistently by different government agencies and the courts.

Public participation in the formulation of laws or regulations is rare. In some cases, private sector groups, and to a lesser extent civil society groups are able to submit comments to the issuing government office or to the congressional committee reviewing the bill, but with limited effect. There is no legislative oversight of administrative rule making. The Guatemalan congress publishes all draft bills on its official website, but it does not make them available for public comment. The congress often does not disclose last-minute amendments before congressional decisions. Final versions of laws, once signed by the President, must be published in the official gazette before entering into force. Congress publishes scanned versions of all laws that are published in the official gazette. Information on the budget and debt obligations is publicly available at the Ministry of Finance’s primary website, but information on debt obligations does not include state-owned enterprise debt.

International Regulatory Considerations

Guatemala is a member of the Central American Common Market and has adopted the Central American uniform customs tariff schedule. As a member of the WTO, the Guatemalan government notifies the WTO Committee on Technical Barriers to Trade (TBT) of draft technical regulations. The Guatemalan congress approved the WTO’s Trade Facilitation Agreement (TFA) in January 2017, which entered into force for Guatemala March 8, 2017.

In 1996, Guatemala ratified Convention 169 of the International Labor Organization (ILO 169), which entered into force in 1997. Article 6 of the Convention requires the government to consult indigenous groups or communities prior to initiating a project that could affect them directly. Potential investors should determine whether their investment will affect indigenous groups and, if so, request that the Guatemalan government lead a consultation process in compliance with ILO 169. The Guatemalan congress began considering a draft law to create a community consultation mechanism to fulfill its ILO-mandated obligations in March 2018, but the bill was still pending congressional approval as of March 2023. The lack of a clear consultation process significantly impedes investment in large-scale projects.

Legal System and Judicial Independence

Guatemala has a civil law system. The codified judicial branch law stipulates that jurisprudence or case law is also a source of law. Guatemala has a written and consistently applied commercial code. Contracts in Guatemala are legally enforced when the holder of a property right that has been infringed upon files a lawsuit to enforce recognition of the infringed right or to receive compensation for the damage caused. The civil law system allows for civil cases to be brought before, after, or concurrently with criminal claims. Guatemala does not have specialized commercial courts, but it does have civil courts that hear commercial cases and specialized courts that hear labor, contraband, or tax cases.

The judicial system is designed to be independent of the executive branch. There are frequent accusations of corruption within the judicial branch.

Laws and Regulations on Foreign Direct Investment

More than 200 U.S. firms as well as hundreds of foreign firms have active investments in Guatemala. CAFTA-DR established a more secure and predictable legal framework for U.S. investors operating in Guatemala. Under CAFTA-DR, all forms of investment are protected, including enterprises, debt, concessions, contracts, and intellectual property. U.S. investors enjoy the right to establish, acquire, and operate investments in Guatemala on an equal footing with local investors in almost all circumstances. The United States government places a high priority on improving the investment climate for U.S. investors in Guatemala. Guatemala passed a foreign investment law in 1998 to streamline and facilitate processes in foreign direct investment. In order to ensure compliance with CAFTA-DR, the Guatemalan congress approved in May 2006 a law that strengthened existing legislation on intellectual property rights (IPR) protection, government procurement, trade, insurance, arbitration, and telecommunications, as well as the penal code. Congress approved an e-commerce law in August 2008, which provides legal recognition to electronically executed communications and contracts; permits electronic communications to be accepted as evidence in all administrative, legal, and private actions; and allows for the use of electronic signatures.

Guatemala previously faced two cases for violating its CAFTA-DR obligations—one under the labor chapter and the other under the environmental chapter. In the 2008 labor case filed by the AFL-CIO and six Guatemalan worker organizations, the arbitration panel found that the Guatemalan government failed to effectively enforce its labor laws, particularly by failing to enforce labor court orders for anti-union dismissals and to take enforcement actions in response to worker complaints. The panel determined that beyond the noted enforcement failures, evidence did not rise to a level sufficient to prove a violation of CAFTA-DR. Regarding the environmental case, the CAFTA-DR Secretariat for Environmental Matters suspended its investigation in 2012 when the Guatemalan government provided evidence that the relevant facts of the case were under consideration by Guatemala’s Constitutional Court. The constitutional court dismissed the case on procedural grounds in 2013.

Complex and confusing laws and regulations, inconsistent judicial decisions, bureaucratic impediments, and corruption continue to constitute practical barriers to investment. A government website ( https://asisehace.gt/ ) publicizes laws, procedures and registration requirements applicable to investors, including fees and documental requirements, procedural steps and times, and contact details of the entities and persons in charge. The Guatemalan government launched a one-stop shop for investment in June 2022 ( https://www.investinguatemala.org/),  an online platform that provides information on the different procedures, steps, time, and costs to start operations in Guatemala and provides direct access with specialized sectoral investment promoters.

Companies that carry out export activities or sell to exempted entities have the right to claim value added tax (VAT) credit refunds for the VAT paid to suppliers and documented with invoices for purchases of the goods and services used for production. A 2006 Guatemalan tax law requires that some companies that purchase goods and services from other companies withhold 15 percent of the VAT paid and seek refunds for the VAT credit that they cannot offset after two years. Guatemala’s Tax and Customs Authority (SAT) established in December 2019 an electronic tax credit refund regime that expedites VAT credit refunds to exporters, but some local and foreign companies continue to report delays in receiving refunds on the withheld tax as of March 2023. Additionally, the expedited refund process has not addressed the tax over withholding inherent in the regime.

Transfer pricing provisions have been part of Guatemala’s tax code since 2016. The Guatemalan congress approved a leasing law in February 2021 to regulate real estate and other types of leasing operations, including lease contracts with an option to purchase. A Guatemalan law to simplify, streamline, and digitize requirements and administrative procedures that are carried out with Executive Branch’s offices entered into force in August 2021.

Competition and Antitrust Laws

Guatemala does not have a law to regulate monopolistic or anti-competitive practices. The Guatemalan government agreed to approve a competition law by November 2016 as part of its commitments under the Association Agreement with the European Union. The Guatemalan government submitted a draft competition law to Congress in May 2016, but it was still pending approval by Congress as of March 2023. In February 2023, the government submitted to congress a new competition bill for consideration that excepts 13 protected sectors.

Expropriation and Compensation

Guatemala’s constitution prohibits expropriation, except in cases of eminent domain, national interest, or social benefit. The Foreign Investment Law requires proper compensation in cases of expropriation. Investor rights are protected under CAFTA-DR by an impartial procedure for dispute settlement that is fully transparent and open to the public. Submissions to dispute panels and dispute panel hearings are open to the public, and interested parties have the opportunity to submit their views.

The Guatemalan government maintains the right to terminate a contract at any time during the life of the contract, if it determines the contract is contrary to the public welfare. It has rarely exercised this right and can only do so after providing the guarantees of due process.

Dispute Settlement

ICSID Convention and New York Convention

Guatemala is a signatory to the convention on the Recognition and Enforcement of Foreign Arbitration Awards (1958 New York Convention), the Inter-American Convention on International Commercial Arbitration (Panama Convention), and it is a member state to the International Convention on the Settlement of Investment Disputes between States and Nationals of Other States (ICSID Convention).

Investor-State Dispute Settlement

CAFTA-DR incorporated dispute resolution mechanisms for investors. Over the past ten years, three investment disputes filed under the investment chapter of CAFTA-DR against the Guatemalan government with the ICSID have involved U.S. investors. The first one concluded in 2013. A U.S. company operating in Guatemala filed the second claim against the Guatemalan government with the ICSID in October 2010. The claim sought to resolve a dispute against the government regarding the regulation of electricity rates and the eventual sale of the company. In 2013, ICSID’s arbitration tribunal issued its judgment and awarded the company over $21 million in damages over electricity rates and $7.5 million to cover legal expenses. In 2016, the company filed a request to resubmit the dispute over the sale to a new tribunal. The new ICSID tribunal issued its ruling on the resubmission proceeding over the sale of the company in May 2020 and awarded the company over $27.5 million in damages to recover the cash flow shortfall and the pre-sale interest. The company filed a request for supplementary decision of the award with ICSID in June 2020. The ICSID tribunal issued its ruling on the supplementary decision in October 2020 and stated that the Guatemalan government shall pay the company $7.5 million of its costs incurred in the original arbitration plus interest running from December 2013. The Guatemalan government paid $37 million to the company in November 2020 that corresponded to the 2013 award. In November 2022, the Guatemalan government agreed to pay $46 million to the company to suspend the arbitration proceeding at the ICSID. The Guatemalan government paid the agreed amount in December 2022, and the ICSID ad hoc committee issued a procedural order taking note of the discontinuance of the arbitration proceeding in January 2023.

In December 2018, a U.S company operating in Guatemala filed the third claim against the Guatemalan government under the investment chapter of CAFTA-DR with the ICSID. The claim seeks to resolve a dispute against the government regarding the suspension of the claimant’s mining exploitation license by the Guatemalan courts in 2016 due to lack of consultations with local communities pursuant to International Labor Organization (ILO) Convention 169. The ICSID tribunal, constituted in July 2019, held a hearing on preliminary objections in December 2019. The company filed a memorial, (an arbitration specific term similar to a pleading) on the merits with the ICSID in July 2020 and the Guatemalan government filed a memorial on jurisdiction and a counter-memorial on the merits including a counter-claim with the ICSID in December 2020. The case remains pending before the ICSID as of March 2023.

Over the past 10 years, two other foreign investors have filed investment disputes against the Guatemalan government. A Colombian investor filed a claim with ICSID in November 2020 for a dispute related to the 2009 power transmission system expansion plan. ICSID suspended the proceeding in accordance with the parties’ agreement a few days later. ICSID resumed the proceeding in October 2021. The same investor filed a second claim related to the power transmission system expansion plan with ICSID in December 2021, but at the investor’s request, the ICSID tribunal issued an order to consolidate the two cases from the same investor in September 2022. A Panamanian investor filed a claim with ICSID against the Guatemalan government in November 2021 on a dispute related to stalled construction and operation of two hydroelectric projects due to social conflict. The two cases remain pending before the ICSID as of March 2023.

International Commercial Arbitration and Foreign Courts

Guatemala’s Foreign Investment Law allows alternative dispute resolution mechanisms, if agreed to by the parties. Currently, there are two alternative dispute resolution mechanisms available in Guatemala to settle disputes between two private parties: the Center of Arbitration and Conciliation of the Guatemalan Chamber of Commerce (CENAC) and the Conflict Resolution Commission of the Guatemalan Chamber of Industry (CRECIG). Both dispute resolution centers provide support with arbiters and logistics. Guatemala’s Arbitration Law of 1995 uses the U.N. Commission on International Trade Law (UNCITRAL) Model Law as the basis for its rules on international arbitration. The Convention on the Recognition and Enforcement of Foreign Arbitration Awards (1958 New York Convention), of which Guatemala is a signatory, recognizes the subsequent enforcement of arbitration awards under these arbitration rules. The Law of the Judiciary recognizes judgments of foreign courts, but judgments must be final and comply with a legalization process to corroborate validity of the judgment.

Bankruptcy Regulations

In February 2022, the Guatemalan congress passed an insolvency law that applies to individuals and businesses and regulates the renegotiation procedure between debtors and creditors in case of insolvency. The new law entered into force in August 2022, but the Guatemalan government was still drafting the implementing regulation as of March 2023. The law requires the judicial branch to create specialized bankruptcy/insolvency courts within five years of the law’s enactment. Under the new insolvency law, creditors can request to be included in a list of creditors; request to start an insolvency proceeding when a debtor has suspended payments of liabilities to creditors for over a period of four months; propose reorganization plans that allow the recovery of credits and the continuity of debtors’ economic activity; and constitute a creditors committee to supervise the work of the bankruptcy administrator and ensure proper management of the bankruptcy estate. Holders of financial contracts have the same rights of creditors under the law. The Code on Civil and Mercantile Legal Proceedings, which contains a chapter on insolvency proceedings, will continue to apply to insolvency proceedings that began prior to the entry into force of the new insolvency law. Bankruptcy is not criminalized, but it can become a crime if a court determines there was intent to defraud.

Investment Incentives

Guatemala’s main investment incentive programs are specified in law and are offered nationwide to both foreign and Guatemalan investors without discrimination.

Guatemala’s primary incentive program – the Law for the Promotion and Development of Export Activities and Maquilas (factories that import duty-free materials and assemble products for export) – is aimed mainly at the apparel and textile sector and at services exporters such as call centers and business processes outsourcing (BPO) companies. The government grants investors in these two sectors a 10-year income tax exemption. Additional incentives include an exemption from duties and value-added taxes (VAT) on imported machinery and equipment and a one-year suspension of the same duties and taxes on imports of production inputs, samples, and packing material.

The Free Trade Zone Law provides similar incentives to the incentive program described above. The Guatemalan congress approved the Law for Conservation of Employment (Decree 19-2016) in February 2016, amending Guatemala’s two major incentive programs to replace tax incentives related to exports that Guatemala dismantled on December 31, 2015, per WTO requirements. Congress approved new amendments to the Free Trade Zones (FTZ) Law in May 2021 to incorporate some previously excluded economic activities, such as manufacturing of plastic products, medications, and electronic devices and household appliances. The 2021 reforms established that local and foreign entities with activities already taxed in the national customs territory may not migrate to FTZ or benefit from the incentives provided by this law. However, companies already operating in country that create new businesses with different activities than those already taxed are exempt from this provision. In January 2023, SAT implemented a regulatory change for consolidated warehouse operations in Public Special Economic Development Zones (ZDEEP), in which service users can create a centralized delivery point for Guatemalan suppliers to companies with dispersed business operations.

The public Free Trade Zone of Industry and Commerce Santo Tomas de Castilla (ZOLIC) that operates contiguous to the state-owned port Santo Tomas de Castilla issued a regulation in January 2019 allowing the establishment of ZOLIC’s special public economic development zones outside of ZOLIC’s customs perimeter. The ZOLIC law grants businesses operating within the new special public economic development zones a 10-year income tax exemption. Additional exemptions include an exemption from VAT, customs duties, and other charges on imports of goods entering the area, including raw materials, supplies, machinery and equipment, as well as a VAT exemption on all taxable transactions carried out within the free trade zone when goods are exported. The law states that the incentives are available to local and foreign investors engaged in manufacturing and commercial activities as well as the provision of services.

The Law on Incentives for the Development of Renewable Energy Projects (Decree 52-2003) is aimed at municipalities, the National Electricity Institute (INDE), joint ventures, individuals and businesses that develop any renewable energy projects. It grants a 10-year exemption from import duties, including value added tax on imported machinery and equipment used exclusively for the generation of electricity in the area where the renewable projects are located. This incentive is valid only during the pre-investment and construction periods. The law also provides a 10-year income tax exemption valid from the date when a project starts commercial operation. The incentive is granted only to individuals and businesses that directly develop the project and only for the project.

Foreign Trade Zones/Free Ports/Trade Facilitation

Decree 65-89, Guatemala’s Free Trade Zones Law and its amendments approved through Decree 19-2016, Law for Conservation of Employment and Decree 6-2021, permits the establishment of free trade zones (FTZs) in any region of the country. Developers of private FTZs must obtain authorization from MINECO to install and manage a FTZ. Businesses operating within authorized FTZs also require authorization from MINECO. The law specifies investment incentives, which are available to both foreign and Guatemalan investors without discrimination. As of March 2023, there were five authorized FTZs operating in Guatemala. The Guatemalan congress approved amendments to the Free Trade Zones Law in May 2021 to reinstate tax incentives to some of the activities removed during the previous reform. Decree 22-73, ZOLIC’s law and its amendments approved through Decree 30-2018, allow the establishment of ZOLIC’s special public economic development zones outside of ZOLIC’s customs perimeter as described under the Investment Incentives subsection above. Special public economic development zones can be installed in ZOLIC’s facilities or property owned by third parties that is leased or granted in usufruct to ZOLIC. Administrators of special public economic development zones must obtain authorization from ZOLIC’s board of directors for a minimum period of 12 years. ZOLIC’s board of directors had approved 11 special public economic development zones as of March 2023.

Performance and Data Localization Requirements

Guatemalan law does not impose performance, purchase, or export requirements nor does the government require foreign investors to use domestic content in goods or technology. Companies are not required to include local content in production.

Guatemalan companies do not require foreign IT providers to turn over source code. Some industries, such as the banking and financial sector, can request that their institution or a source code facilities management company receive a copy of the source code in case of potential problems with the IT provider.

Real Property

Guatemala follows the real property registry system. Defects in the titles and ownership gaps in the public record can lead to conflicting claims of land ownership, especially in rural areas. The government stepped up efforts to enforce property rights by helping to provide a clear property title. Nevertheless, when rightful ownership is in dispute, it can be difficult to obtain and subsequently enforce eviction notices. Mortgages are available to finance homes and businesses. Most banks offer mortgage loans with terms as long as 30 years for residential real estate. Mortgages and liens are recorded at the real estate property registry. The legal system is accessible to foreigners who may buy, sell, and file suit under the law. However, the legal system is not easily navigated without competent counsel. Foreign investors are advised to seek reliable local counsel early in the investment process.

Intellectual Property Rights

Guatemala has been a member of the WTO since 1995 and the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) since 1983. It is also a signatory to the Paris Convention, Berne Convention, Rome Convention, Phonograms Convention, and the Nairobi Treaty. Guatemala has ratified the WIPO Copyright Treaty (WCT) and the WIPO Performances and Phonograms Treaty (WPPT). In June 2006, as part of CAFTA-DR implementation, Guatemala ratified the Patent Cooperation Treaty and the Budapest Treaty on the International Recognition of the Deposit of Microorganisms for the Purposes of Patent Procedure. Also in June 2006, the Guatemalan congress approved the International Convention for the Protection of New Varieties of Plants (UPOV Convention). Implementing legislation that would allow Guatemala to become a party to the convention, however, was pending as of March 2023. The Guatemalan congress approved the Trademark Law Treaty (TLT) and the Marrakesh Treaty in February 2016. Legislation to incorporate TLT provisions into local law was pending as of March 2023. The Guatemalan congress passed amendments to the Copyright and Related Rights Law to adapt Marrakesh Treaty provisions into local law in October 2018, and the Guatemalan government issued its implementing regulation in March 2022.

Guatemala has a registry for intellectual property. Trademarks, copyrights, patents rights, industrial designs, and other forms of intellectual property must be registered in Guatemala to obtain protection in the country.

The Guatemalan congress passed an industrial property law in August 2000, bringing the country’s intellectual property rights laws into compliance with the WTO’s Agreement on Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPS) agreement. Congress modified the legislation in 2003 to provide pharmaceutical test data protection consistent with international practice and again in 2005 to comply with IPR protection requirements in CAFTA-DR. CAFTA-DR provides for improved standards for the protection and enforcement of a broad range of IPR, which are consistent with U.S. standards of protection and enforcement as well as emerging international standards. Congress approved a law to prohibit the production and sale of counterfeit medicine in November 2011. It approved amendments to the Industrial Property Law in June 2013 to allow the registration of geographical indications (GI), as required under the Association Agreement with the European Union. Guatemalan administrative authorities issued rulings on applications to register GIs that appear sound and well-reasoned for compound GI names, but U.S. exporters are concerned that 2014 rulings on single-name GIs will effectively prohibit new U.S. products in the Guatemalan market from using what appear to be generic or common names when identifying their goods locally.

Guatemala remains on USTR’s Special 301 Watch List in 2023 and has been on the Watch list for more than 10 years. Despite a generally sound legal framework, IPR enforcement remains limited due to resource constraints, and limited coordination among law enforcement agencies. Piracy and copyright and trademark infringement, including those of some major U.S. food and pharmaceutical brands, remain problematic in Guatemala.

For additional information about national laws and points of contact at local IP offices, please see WIPO’s country profiles at http://www.wipo.int/directory/en/ .

Capital Markets and Portfolio Investment

The local stock exchange (Bolsa de Valores Nacional) deals almost exclusively in commercial paper, repurchase agreements (repos), and government bonds. The Stock and Merchandise Market Registry under the Ministry of Economy was drafting a new capital markets bill as of March 2023. Notwithstanding the lack of a modern capital markets law, the government debt market continues to develop. Domestic treasury bonds represented 59.4 percent of total public debt as of December 2022.

Guatemala lacks a market for publicly traded equities, which raises the cost of capital and complicates mergers and acquisitions. As of December 2022, borrowers faced a weighted average annual interest rate of 16.0 percent in local currency and 6.7 percent in foreign currency, with some banks charging over 40 percent on consumer or micro-credit loans. Commercial loans to large businesses offered the lowest rates and were on average 6.4 percent in local currency as of December 2022. Dollar-denominated loans typically are some percentage points lower than those issued in local currency. Foreigners rarely rely on the local credit market to finance investments.

Money and Banking System

Overall, the banking system remains stable. The Monetary Board, Banguat, and the Superintendency of Banks (SIB) approved various temporary measures during 2020 to increase liquidity of the banking system during the first months of the pandemic and to allow banks to approve restructuring of loans or deferral of loans to businesses and individuals affected by the pandemic. Non-performing loans represented 1.4 percent of total loans as of January 2023. According to information from the SIB, Guatemala’s 17 commercial banks had an estimated $63 billion in assets in December 2022. The six largest banks control about 88 percent of total assets. In addition, Guatemala has 11 non-bank financial institutions, which perform primarily investment banking and medium- and long-term lending, and three exchange houses. Access to financial services is high in Guatemala City and other cities. Guatemala had 30.6 access points per 10,000 adults at the national level and 33.3 access points per 10,000 adults in the capital area as of December 2022. There were 13,418 banking accounts per 10,000 adults at the national level and 27,026 banking accounts per 10,000 adults in the capital area as of December 2022. Most banks offer a variety of online banking services.

Foreigners are normally able to open a bank account by presenting their passport and a utility bill or some other proof of residence. However, requirements vary by bank.

In April 2002, the Guatemalan congress passed a package of financial sector regulatory reforms that increased the regulatory and supervisory authority of the SIB, which is responsible for regulating the financial services industry. The reforms brought local practices more in line with international standards and spurred a round of bank consolidations and restructurings. The 2002 reforms required that non-performing assets held offshore be included in loan-loss-provision and capital-adequacy ratios. As a result, a number of smaller banks sought new capital, buyers, or mergers with stronger banks, reducing the number of banks from 27 in 2005 to 17 in 2022. In December 2021, four offshore entities continued to operate in Guatemala; by March 2023 the four entities had transferred their operations to Guatemalan banks.

Guatemalan banking and supervisory authorities and the Guatemalan congress actively work on new laws in the business and financial sectors. In August 2012, the Guatemalan congress approved reforms to the Banking and Financial Groups Law and to the Central Bank Organic Law that strengthened supervision and prudential regulation of the financial sector and resolution mechanisms for failed or failing banks. The Guatemalan government submitted to congress proposed amendments to the Banking and Financial Groups Law in November 2016 and an anti-money laundering and counter-terrorism financing draft law in August 2020. Both proposed laws were pending congressional approval as of March 2023.

Foreign banks may open branches or subsidiaries in Guatemala subject to Guatemalan financial controls and regulations. These include a rule requiring local subsidiaries of foreign banks and financial institutions operating in Guatemala to meet Guatemalan capital and lending requirements as if they were stand-alone operations. Groups of affiliated credit card, insurance, financial, commercial banking, leasing, and related companies must issue consolidated financial statements prepared in accordance with uniform, generally accepted accounting practices. The groups are audited and supervised on a consolidated basis.

The total number of correspondent banking relationships with Guatemala’s financial sector declined in 2016, a de-risking trend seen throughout the region. The situation stabilized in 2017. The number of correspondent banking relationships remained stable in 2022.

Alternative financial services in Guatemala include credit and savings unions and microfinance institutions.

Foreign Exchange and Remittances

Foreign Exchange

Guatemala’s Foreign Investment Law and CAFTA-DR commitments protect the investor’s right to remit profits and repatriate capital. There are no restrictions on converting or transferring funds associated with an investment into a freely usable currency at a market-clearing rate. U.S. dollars are freely available and easy to obtain within the Guatemalan banking system. In October 2010, monetary authorities approved a regulation to establish limits for cash transactions of foreign currency to reduce the risks of money laundering and terrorism financing. The regulation establishes that monthly deposits over $3,000 will be subject to additional requirements, including a sworn statement by the depositor stating that the money comes from legitimate activities. There are no legal constraints on the quantity of remittances or any other capital flows and there have been no reports of unusual delays in the remittance of investment returns.

The Law of Free Negotiation of Currencies allows Guatemalan banks to offer different types of foreign-currency-denominated accounts. In practice, the majority of such accounts are in U.S. dollars. Capital can be transferred from Guatemala to any other jurisdiction without restriction. The exchange rate moves in response to market conditions. The government sets one exchange rate as reference, which it applies only to its own transactions, and which is based on the commercial rate. The Central Bank intervenes in the foreign exchange market only to prevent sharp movements. The reference exchange rate of quetzals (GTQ) to the U.S. dollar has remained relatively stable since 1999.

Remittance Policies

There are no time limitations on remitting different types of investment returns.

Sovereign Wealth Funds

Guatemala does not have a sovereign wealth fund.

Privatization Program

The Guatemalan government privatized a number of state-owned assets in industries and utilities in the late 1990s, including power distribution, telephone services, and grain storage. Guatemala does not currently have a privatization program.

Climate Issues

The Climate Change Framework Law (Decree 7-2013) outlines requirements for the government’s response to the impacts of climate change, in particular by reducing climate change vulnerability, improving adaptive capacity, and promoting mitigation activities. The law also creates a National Climate Change Information System, managed by the Ministry of Environment and Natural Resources (MARN), as well as a National Climate Change Council to supervise implementation of the law and its associated Climate Change Fund. The Climate Change Framework Law also enables development of the National Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and Degradation (REDD+) Strategy, which clarifies questions about carbon emission reduction ownership and charges MARN with the creation of the National Registry for Greenhouse Gas Emission Reduction Projects. The law establishes the groundwork for Guatemala’s Low Emission Development Strategy (LEDS) and is designed to align Guatemala’s emissions and development targets with national planning documents in six sectors: energy, transportation, industry, land use, agriculture, and waste management. In November 2020, the Guatemalan government endorsed the LEDS as the country’s official strategy for climate change mitigation.

In 2015, Guatemala submitted its first nationally determined contribution (NDC) under the Paris Accords, pledging to reduce current greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions by 11.2 percent by 2030 by its own means. With the support of the international community, Guatemala also committed to reducing GHG emissions by 22.6 percent compared to its emissions growth trend from 1990-2005. Guatemala submitted a revised NDC in February 2022 that maintains the same targets as the 2015 version, despite a significantly higher baseline. The document assigns few specific emissions reductions targets except in the agricultural and energy sectors. It does not delineate specific targets for the private sector. Critics say the NDC lacks the specific policies necessary to achieve even these modest reductions and have characterized it as “unambitious” and a “step backward.” Guatemala’s NDC does not target net zero emissions by 2050, nor do local climate experts believe the country is likely to achieve its current goals, primarily due to resource and capacity constraints, lack of private sector support, and insufficient political will. To date, Guatemala does not have an effective system for monitoring emissions, further hindering its ability to set or enforce more ambitious targets.
The Law on Protected Areas (Decree 4-89) created both the Guatemalan System of Protected Areas (SIGAP) and the National Council of Protected Areas (CONAP), which oversees SIGAP. The general objectives of this law are to ensure the optimal functioning of essential ecological processes and key natural systems; preserve biological diversity; attain sustained utilization of species and ecosystems in the national territory; defend and preserve the natural patrimony of the country; and establish the protected areas in the country as a matter of public utility and social interest. Protected areas are defined as those created with the purpose of conserving, managing, and restoring wild flora and fauna, other related resources, and natural and cultural interactions. Guatemala’s congress must approve the designation of a new protected area and had so designated 348 areas as of December 2022. The Protected Areas law requires CONAP to determine fines for infractions, up to and including prison sentences for crimes against the nation’s natural and cultural patrimony, illegal wildlife trafficking, and squatting in protected areas. Regulatory fines are often challenged in the courts, delaying enforcement. However, CONAP’s oversight and enforcement is weak across most of the protected areas. It often neglects complaints and infractions, failing to follow up, and puts the onus on NGOs and private citizens to be the face of enforcement thereby putting environmental advocates in harm’s way.

Within the Guatemala NDC, the Agriculture, Forestry, and Other Land Use sectors (AFOLU) are recognized as the largest sources of GHG emissions in the country and offer opportunities for emission reductions. Guatemala has experienced some of the highest deforestation rates in Latin America. From 1990 to 2015, overall forest cover declined by more than 1.2 million hectares, which accounts for nearly 12 percent of Guatemala’s total land area. To prevent further emissions in the AFOLU sectors, the Government maintains contracts with eleven community groups in northern Guatemala that derive significant income by sustainably managing over 500,000 hectares of certified forests. Both former President Morales and current President Giammattei directed their cabinets to approve the renewal of 25-year contracts for community forest concessions. As of March 2023, eleven community forest concessions contracts had been approved, including two added in 2021. PROBOSQUE (created by Decree 2-2015) is a forestry program that devotes one percent of the national budget to incentivize the protection of natural forests, reforestation, and the establishment of agroforestry practices. While PROBOSQUE builds on past forestry incentive programs, key differences include a wider range of eligible activities and eligible groups, a minimum project size of 0.5 hectares, and the removal of earmarks distinguishing between plantation and natural forest subsidies. The Forest Incentives Law for Owners of Small Extensions of Forest or Agroforestry Land (PINPEP, created by Decree 51-2010) is a forest incentive program for forest and agroforestry plots of fewer than 15 hectares. PINPEP provides landowners with subsidies to plant trees or maintain existing forests. Reports suggest these policies are relatively well enforced.