Alan Gandelman, CEO, ICAP Brazil

Brazil’s fortunes have been rapidly improving for the last five years, and the country was recently recognised as the world’s fifth largest economy. But that’s not the end of the story, says Alan Gandelman of ICAP Brazil: with a stable economic and political landscape, everyone is investing in the country’s equity market, from the US and Europe to Asia and the Middle East.

Michael Thirkettle, Chief Executive, McBains Cooper Group

In 2010, the Mexican Ministry of Security set out to develop eight prisons, each housing 2,500 inmates, the biggest PPP project in Latin America at the time. UK consultancy McBains Cooper Group was brought in as technical advisor. Chief Executive Michael Thirkettle explains how its role went far beyond construction to establish a new design and structure in prison management.

Dario Oscos, Senior Partner, Oscos Abogados

Vitro, the Mexican-based glass manufacturer, defaulted on $1.5bn of debt in 2009 – but before so doing ensured its subsidiaries were its major creditors, allowing the company to control its own reorganisation proceedings. Its bankruptcy plan is preliminarily valid in Mexico but in the US it has been rejected: Dario Oscos explains the significance of this decision, its implications for cross-border trade, and the timeframe for a final verdict.

Carlos Robles, Chief Financial Officer, Telmex

Mexico has one of the highest growth rates of broadband services among OECD countries in the last 10 years. Telmex, the main fixed-line telecoms provider in the country, has prompted this growth by investing $34bn in its network in the last 22 years. Chief Financial Officer Carlos Robles discusses the company’s wide range of services and initiatives which are bringing high-speed broadband within reach of the entire population.