LatinNews Daily - 25 March 2026

*Panama Ports Company (PPC), a subsidiary of Hong Kong-headquartered CK Hutchison Holdings, has announced that it has expanded its international arbitration claims against Panama to over US$2bn in relation to the Panamanian government’s takeover of the Balboa and Cristóbal ports on the Panama Canal following a January 2026 supreme court ruling striking down the concession. PPC announced last month that it had begun arbitration proceedings against Panama before the France-headquartered International Chamber of Commerce (ICC), although at the time an initial figure for damages was not reported. According to a PPC press release issued yesterday, the firm supplemented its claims in a filing on 24 March based on “the State’s extreme executive actions, takeover, occupation, seizure of proprietary and protected documents and a range of related misconduct”. This also follows PPC’s claims made less than a week ago that the Panamanian government led by President José Raúl Mulino, had failed to file its response by a 13 March deadline in the case – claims rejected by the Mulino government.