Biography
Salvador D. Castañeda provides solutions to clients on international and domestic business and financing transactions. His primary areas of practice include mergers, acquisitions, divestitures, entity structuring and formation, secured and unsecured commercial and corporate lending transactions, and counseling companies regarding compliance with U.S. export controls and foreign investment regulations.
Before attending law school, Mr. Castañeda was employed by a publicly traded financial services company and worked with a consortium of institutional investors, where he led a team of local attorneys and business consultants in the due diligence and acquisition of distressed asset portfolios throughout Latin America. In this capacity, he analyzed, negotiated, and closed real estate and non-performing loan portfolios in Argentina, Brazil, Chile and Mexico with an aggregate principal balance in excess of $2 billion.
Mr. Castañeda balances his legal knowledge, business experience and cultural understanding to counsel U.S. clients trading with or investing in Latin American countries and foreign clients doing business in the U.S. He is fluent in Spanish and Portuguese and regularly negotiates and documents transactions in Spanish.
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Representative Matters
- Advise U.S. companies and individuals purchasing and selling real estate in Mexico in and outside of the restricted zone, and through bank trusts (fideicomisos)
- Advise U.S. companies and financial institutions in drafting loan documentation for credit issued to Mexican borrowers secured by collateral in the U.S. and Mexico
- Represent U.S. companies in connection with confidentiality agreements, supply agreements, distribution agreements and related issues in Argentina, Brazil and Mexico
- Assist U.S. companies with compliance with Mexican import authorization and hazardous materials regulations, NAFTA rules of origin and applicable Mexican NOMs (Official Mexican Standards) for import into Mexico
- Provide comprehensive advice to public and private companies on strategy, operations and compliance with various export control laws and regulations including:
- Antiboycott laws and regulations administered by the U.S. Departments of Commerce and Treasury
- Export Administration Regulations (EAR)
- International Traffic in Arms Regulations (ITAR)
- Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC)
- Economic and Trade Sanctions and Embargoes administered by the U.S. Departments of State, Treasury and Commerce
- Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA)
- ECCN (Export Classification Control Number) classification of complex goods, software, services and technology under the Commerce Control List (CCL) of the EAR and United States Munitions List (USML) of the ITAR
- Advise software companies on special export controls, license requirements, license exceptions, and reporting requirements applicable to encryption items and software under the EAR, and other off-shore software development export issues
- Draft and negotiate commercial real estate leases in Canada and the United States
- Represent U.S. financial institutions in structuring commercial real estate lending transactions
- Acquisition of substantially all of the assets of two Canadian companies on behalf of multi-national oil and gas services company
- Acquisition due diligence of U.S. Steel products manufacturer with subsidiaries and facilities in Brazil and Mexico
- Counsel domestic and foreign individuals and companies on issues related to entity formation, mergers, acquisitions and divestitures
More about Salvador D. Castañeda: Biography | Involvement | Speeches / Publications | News
Organization Membership
Mr. Castañeda is a Life Member of the Baylor Alumni Association and a Life Member of the Texas Exes.
Community Involvement
Mr. Castañeda has been a volunteer from 2006 to present for American Gateways, a non-profit organization that promotes justice for immigrants and refugees by providing free and low-cost legal services and education. He regularly delivers meals through Austin's Meals on Wheels program, and has served on the host committee for the annual fundraising event for ACE: A Community for Education, an early childhood literacy program helping struggling readers in low-income elementary schools in Austin.
More about Salvador D. Castañeda: Biography | Experience | Speeches / Publications | News
Speeches / Publications
- Presentation with John Stephenson on Legal Overview of Real Estate in Mexico at SMU Dedman School of Law - February 2009
- Presentation with Margaret Hopson and Arcie Jordan on U.S. Export Controls to faculty of Universidad Autónoma de Tamaulipas during the Teresa Lozano Long Institute of Latin American Studies (LLILAS) Executive Seminar on the U.S. Legal System held at The University of Texas at Austin - August 2009
- Organized and moderated with John Holden a presentation made by Dr. Ernesto Marcos on "Doing Business with PEMEX and Recent Legal Reforms: Opportunities for Foreign Firms and Challenges Ahead" held at the Dallas Petroleum Club - February 2009
Links to Publications
More about Salvador D. Castañeda: Biography | Experience | Involvement | News
