Dentons launches digital signature tracker for Latin America, Caribbean

Dentons has launched a digital signature tracker across 18 jurisdictions in Latin America and the Caribbean

The tool helps organisations track the legal regulation and effect of digital signatures and has been launched by the law firm in response to the COVID-19 pandemic having accelerated the need for digital technologies that allow companies to conduct business transactions in an environment where face-to-face dealings are restricted.

Digital signatures can allow companies to finalise transactions in a remote working environment, but it is essential that businesses first understand the legal effect of a digital signature, which may vary across Latin America and the Caribbean, the law firm said

Dentons’ new digital signature tracker helps clients determine the legal ramifications of digital signatures. The tracker helps organisations answer key questions related to consent issued through different wet ink and digital signatures. The tracker focuses on legal regulation, considerations when using different types of signatures, their weight as evidence, and legal effects of signatures issued with software such as DocuSign or Adobe. The tool allows businesses to compare the different answers across 18 jurisdictions.

“Dentons’ digital signature tracker helps companies navigate remote business transactions across Latin America and the Caribbean,” Eduardo Cárdenas (pictured), a partner of Dentons’ Colombia office, and who sponsored the project in the region, said.

“The laws are relatively similar in all of our markets but there are differences that companies need to be aware of. Also, it is widespread that digital signatures have limited effects on certain businesses, for example those that seek to convey ownership of real estate where legal formalities do not accept them.”

Dentons’ digital signature tracker is a starting point for any company looking to finalise transactions remotely, the firm said.