Archive 2023

Uría Menéndez is a leading law firm in the Ibero-American market with 12 offices located in the most important financial centres throughout Europe and the Americas. Founded in 1946, Uría Menéndez has over 600 lawyers who advise on Spanish, Portuguese and EU law in business-related matters, covering all industry sectors. 

The Luxembourg Rail Protocol to the Cape Town Convention will enter into force in contracting states (Luxembourg, Sweden, Spain and Gabon, and possibly also South Africa and Paraguay), on March 8, 2024.

The UIC Africa Rail Finance Forum held in Dakar, Senegal, in October issued a key declaration that included unequivocal support for the Luxembourg Rail Protocol to the Cape Town Convention:

The RWG is pressing ECAs to do more to support the railways, the most environmentally friendly means of mass transport today. In particular, ECAs should apply the Cape Town Discount of 10% on risk premiums, currently awarded for aircraft financing under the Aircraft Protocol, to rolling stock transactions when the Luxembourg Rail Protocol comes into operation next year.

African Transport Ministers call for the adoption of the Luxembourg Rail Protocol

SOUTH AFRICAN CABINET APPROVES LRP RATIFICATION On 21st June 2023, the Cabinet of the Republic of South Africa formally approved the submission of the Luxembourg Rail Protocol to the Cape Town Convention to Parliament for ratification. Formal ratification is expected later in the year. In its official statement, the Cabinet emphasised that the Luxembourg Rail […]

New Advisory Panel to the Italian Contact Group of the Rail Working Group presses for adoption of the Luxembourg Protocol On June 22, 2023, in Rome, the Rail Working Group convened the first meeting of a new Advisory Panel to its Contact Group in Italy, dedicated to making the case for the adoption of the […]

Cabinet of the Republic of South Africa approves ratification of the Luxembourg Rail Protocol On 21st June 2023, the Cabinet of the Republic of South Africa formally approved the submission of the Luxembourg Rail Protocol to Parliament for ratification. We expect formal ratification later in the year. This is great news for the future of […]

Chris Forster re-elected as RWG Treasurer at the Annual General Meeting in Paris on 5th June. Chris Forster was unanimously re-elected as a member of the RWG board and for a new three-year term. “Chris has done a tremendous job for us, and we are absolutely delighted that he can continue to be a member […]

The Rail Working Group today sent a letter of condolence to Prime Minister Modi relating to the recent tragic rail accident in India.
Full text of the letter