Project Finance, Public Utilities, and Public Concerns: A Practitioner's Perspective

Because of the lack of competition regulation, certain contract provisions attempt to substitute for such vacuum. In an era when private ownership of infrastructure projects is gaining grounds, the need for elaborated competition regulation is more pressing than ever. Private ownership does not necessarily mean personal funding. The more common mode of funding involves a syndicate of banks, which brings a third competing interest to this type of transactions, rendering the need for competition law an essentiality to avoid confusion. The involved interests, while diversified, are not always conflicting. For instance, the continuity of public service is a major concern of all contracting parties, but for different reasons. This unity of goals justifies a unity of solutions in form of uniform legal reforms. PROJECT FINANCE, PUBLIC UTILITIES, AND PUBLIC CONCERNS: A PRACTITIONER'S PERSPECTIVE