Legal Investment in Brazil and Mexico 2025: Strategy and Growth Insights

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✅ Summary:

This guide explores legal investment Brazil Mexico in 2025, with strategic insights from leading lawyers in Brazil and Mexico. Learn how arbitration, FX hedging, and international structuring are driving cross-border growth in fintech, energy, and infrastructure.

Brazil vs. Mexico: Legal Strategy Snapshot for Investors

Latin America is regaining momentum on the global investment radar, and two countries are leading the charge: Brazil and Mexico. As 2025 unfolds, interest in legal investment Brazil and Mexico is accelerating, with cross-border investors eyeing fintech, energy, and infrastructure. But success in these markets depends not just on opportunity—but on how well deals are structured to withstand legal and regulatory complexity.

Legal Investment in Brazil: Maturing Market, Sophisticated Risk

Brazil enters 2025 with steady economic tailwinds. GDP is projected to grow between 2.0% and 3.0%, building on the 3.4% expansion recorded in 2024. Analysts from the OECD, IMF, and Brazil’s Ministry of Finance, Fernando Haddad, point to resilient consumer demand, a strong agribusiness sector, and a relatively stable $Real as key drivers.

Its fintech sector raised over US$400 million in early 2024 alone, cementing Brazil’s status as Latin America’s fintech powerhouse. Beyond finance, Brazil is also a focal point of the global energy transition, serving as a lead recipient of the US$1 billion Climate Investment Fund, which is expected to mobilize up to US$12 billion in private capital for green energy and infrastructure.

Beyond the economic momentum, Brazil has developed one of the most internationally aligned legal frameworks for arbitration in the region. Arnoldo Wald Filho, President of the Special Commission on Mediation and Arbitration at the Brazilian Bar Association (OAB-SP) and Founding Partner at Wald Advogados, emphasized in a March 2024 interview with Valor Econômico:

“Brazil has become one of the world’s largest users of arbitration. As a result, São Paulo is now recognized as a reliable seat for high-value international dispute resolution.”

Echoing this emphasis on legal predictability, André Thiollier, Partner at Foley & Lardner LLP in Silicon Valley, Palo Alto, shared in a February 2025 client briefing:

“Transactional documents are often disregarded by local courts. We advise structuring protections from day one—arbitration, FX hedges, and international vehicles are no longer optional.”

In practical terms, paraphrasing Thiollier, this means building legal protection into every layer of a deal: from arbitration clauses and enforceable governing law, to offshore SPVs and currency hedging strategies designed to mitigate Brazil’s inflationary swings and currency volatility.

Legal Investment in Mexico: Reform and Opportunity

Mexico presents a different picture. While it benefits from nearshoring tailwinds and long-term infrastructure ambitions, the IMF forecasts a minus 0.3% contraction for 2025. Some private analysts estimate growth around -1%, but the outlook remains cautious amid interest rate pressure and political transition.

Despite that, investment momentum in sectors like logistics, renewable energy, and industrial parks remains strong. The government’s goal to attract US$277 billion in private capital by 2030 is ambitious, with a growing emphasis on energy infrastructure and regional development.

However, legal risk is rising. Judicial reform already implemented and questions about institutional independence have led investors to reevaluate protections. Bernardo Martínez-Negrete, Partner at Martínez-Negrete Abogados, underscores the importance of legal certainty in a Latin Counsel interview:

“Legal certainty is the currency of investment. The proposed Supreme Court reforms have created real concern. Investors are increasingly seeking arbitration clauses and exit protections.”

From a structuring perspective, Alejandro de la Borbolla, Partner at Galicia Abogados, highlights in the same interview that Mexico’s traditional PPP models are giving way to hybrid, faster-moving structures:

“Mexico still holds significant promise, but investors need to front-load legal strategies that allow for flexibility, international arbitration, and secure repatriation planning“.

Structuring Tools for Legal Investment in Brazil and Mexico

Legal protections for investors entering Brazil and Mexico increasingly depend on how deals are structured at the outset — especially in jurisdictions where currency exposure, regulatory complexity, and dispute resolution frameworks vary. Sophisticated structuring tools such as New York law-governed contracts, international arbitration clauses, and FX hedging mechanisms are no longer optional — they’re foundational.

Christophe Seraglini, partner in Freshfields’ International Arbitration Group in Paris, underscores the importance of anticipating legal conflicts within contractual frameworks:

“Acknowledging the existence of conflicting rules and addressing them early can only help to save time and money and ensure the smooth running of an arbitration for all of those involved.”

Brazil vs. Mexico: A Strategic Snapshot

Element	Brazil	Mexico
GDP Growth (2025)	2.0–3.0%	-1%; IMF: –0.3%
Top Sectors	Fintech, cleantech, agritech	Infrastructure, renewables, nearshoring
Legal Focus	Arbitration enforcement, FX protections	Judicial reform, repatriation strategies
Key Advisors	Wald Filho, Thiollier, Seraglini	de la Borbolla, Martínez-Negrete

Final Takeaway: Structure Before You Scale

In both Brazil and Mexico, opportunity is abundant—but so is risk. Legal foresight is no longer a secondary consideration. As these markets evolve, only those who build in arbitration frameworks, enforceable dispute resolution clauses, and currency hedging protections from the outset will be able to scale successfully.

As emphasized by Wald Filho, Thiollier, de la Borbolla, and Martínez-Negrete, legal structuring is not just a defensive mechanism—it’s a proactive tool for sustainable growth in Latin America.

Written by the Latin American Desk

With legal citations from:

• Arnoldo Wald Filho, President, OAB-SP Arbitration Commission; Founding Partner, Wald Advogados in São Paulo
• André Thiollier, Partner, Foley & Lardner LLP in Silicon Valley
• Christophe Seraglini, Partner, Freshfields in Paris
• Alejandro de la Borbolla, Partner, Galicia Abogados in Mexico City
• Bernardo Martínez-Negrete, Partner, Martínez-Negrete Abogados in Mexico City

🇧🇷 Resumo – Investimentos Brasil – México (2025)

Visão concisa das abordagens jurídicas que moldam os investimentos no Brasil e no México, com ênfase em arbitragem, proteção cambial e estruturação contratual.

🇲🇽 Resumen en Español – Inversión Brasil – México (2025)

Síntesis de las claves legales para invertir en Brasil y México, destacando el arbitraje, la cobertura cambiaria y la estructuración de acuerdos transfronterizos.