LatinNews Daily - 03 June 2021

In brief: Ecuador sets out plan of compensation payments to French oil company

* Ecuador’s attorney general, Íñigo Salvador Crespo, has set out a timeline for the government to transfer US$374.3m to the French oil company Perenco, which he said would be completed within 60 days. The payment relates to a 1 June ruling by the World Bank’s International Centre for Settlement of Investment Disputes (ICSID), which ordered the state to compensate Perenco for a 2007 decree by former president, Rafael Correa (2007-2017), that increased state control of oil surpluses from 50% to 99%. Following the ICSID’s decision, President Guillermo Lasso said that “the Ecuadorean state will respect and honour its international commitments”. Lasso’s acceptance of the compensation payments demonstrates a change of course from the legal challenges mounted by his predecessor, Lenín Moreno (2017-2021), and will be intended to demonstrate his government’s respect for international court rulings and regain investor confidence.