On January 20, 2020, the Eleventh Civil Court of First Instance of Guatemala resolved preliminary exceptions in the ordinary action brought by Compañía Importadora La Perla, S.A. against Lisa, S.A. The court found that the companies’ incorporation instrument for La Perla includes an arbitration clause (Clause Twenty-Eighth) requiring that disputes “arising from this contract” be resolved by arbitration, and noted that the dispute concerns dividends and their payment, matters governed by the company’s constitutive contract.

Upholding Lisa, S.A.’s jurisdictional objection, the court granted the exception of incompetence, abstained from ruling on the remaining preliminary exceptions, and directed the parties to pursue the matter through arbitration of law under Guatemala’s Arbitration Law (Decree 67-95). It also declined to impose costs, treating the issues as doubtful questions of law.