The Paraguayan experience in modernizing its secured transactions legal framework

Abstract

Abstract In the past decades, numerous countries of the five continents have been substantively modernizing their private law legal framework in topics related to commercial law, including secured transactions. Paraguay has not been an alien to this phenomenon and has adopted numerous harmonizing instruments developed by international organizations such as UNCITRAL, Unidroit, and the Hague Conference on Private International Law in commercial arbitration, international contracts, and the sale of goods, among others. This brief contribution describes the Paraguayan situation of access to secured credit with particular emphasis on small- and medium-sized enterprises and the legal shortcomings that obstruct financing backed by movable assets. Further, the article also discusses the road travelled to modernize the Paraguayan legal framework on secured transactions and makes recommendations for the future based on the lessons learned from the process.