Ecuador’s historic debt-for-nature swap was awarded “Financing Innovation of the Year” at the Latin Finance 2023 Deals of the Year Awards. Dentons advised the Ministry of Economy and Finance of the Republic of Ecuador on this winning deal.

This landmark transaction involved the exchange of US$1.628 billion of Ecuador’s sovereign debt for approximately US$656 million in new sovereign debt, allowing the country to redirect approximately US$323 million to comply with certain agreed sustainability commitments intended to enhance the conservation of the Galápagos Islands and their marine ecosystems. According to Latin Finance, “Ecuador established a new international standard in 2023 with a debt swap to help protect its famed Galapagos Islands”, recognizing that this transaction is “the largest debt-for-nature conversion on record and established a new structure for similar operations going forward”.

Partners Jesús Mardomingo (Madrid), Yun Ma (Paris), and Rubén Eduardo Luján (Toronto) led Dentons’ multi-jurisdictional legal team on the deal with assistance from associate Lola Noguera (Madrid) and of counsel Carolina Barzola (Prague). The team also included partners Walter Van Dorn (New York), Luis F. Torres (Washington DC), Stephen Shergold (London), Rachel Juliet Welch-Phillips (Trinidad and Tobago), senior associate Annabel Hodge (London), and associate Amy Morin (London).

The awards ceremony took place at the Latin Finance Capital Markets Dinner held on January 25, 2024 in New York. Partners Jesús Mardomingo, Rubén Eduardo Luján, Walter Van Dorn and Luis F. Torres accepted the award, alongside a representative of the Ministry of Economy and Finance of the Republic of Ecuador. The Latin Finance awards are the “landmark recognition of stand-out transactions and institutions in the capital markets of Latin America and the Caribbean”.