In this article we take a look at the state of the Jewelry Industry one year into the global pandemic and provide a general guide to lenders for effectively evaluating both prospective borrowers and existing portfolio accounts.

The nuances and intricacies of conducting business in Mexico are significant. This is true not only for multinational companies doing business within the country but often times for Mexico-based companies, themselves, with customers positioned both within and beyond its borders. Perhaps nowhere are these complexities more evident than in situations pertaining to distressed businesses, bankruptcy proceedings and the associated liquidation of assets and repayment of debt to creditors.

Over my many years in law, real estate, finance and asset monetization I have been a part of numerous debates among colleagues regarding which of the vast complexities associated with starting up a large scale division or branch of a business in Mexico – particularly as an extension of a company based outside the country – is the most daunting.

Prior to 2017, the largest number of retail stores to close in any given year occurred during the financial crisis in 2008. That changed in 2017, the first year of the oft described “retail apocalypse”, and new records have been set in every subsequent year but for 2018, which fell just shy of 2008’s number. Indeed, so many stores closed in 2019 that many industry experts didn’t believe 2020 would be able to surpass that high-water mark. But, with the help of COVID-19, 2020 set another record with over 11,000 closures.

January 18, 2021 – The seasonally adjusted annualized rate of sales (SAAR) for lightduty vehicles topped 16 million vehicles in December for the third month since April, when the industry slumped to a 50-year low. For the full year, light-duty vehicle sales totalled 14.6 million, a decrease of 14% from 2019.

There was a time, not so long ago, when tangible assets comprised the vast majority of a company’s total value. A business’ equipment, real estate and other holdings were indeed its strongest suits in securing access to working capital and ensuring liquidity. While this remains the case today for most small- and medium-sized companies, we find that among large corporations, intangible assets including intellectual property (IP) now hold the lion’s share of value.