Insights
Notes on Guyanese law and regulation.
Short, factual notes for in-house counsel, foreign law firms and clients following legal and regulatory developments in Guyana. They are general information, not legal advice.
Select any note below to read it in full.
Oil and gas
Guyana’s Local Content Act 2021: what operators, contractors and suppliers in oil and gas need to know
13 November 2026Fraser & Housty
A factual outline of the Local Content Act 2021 for operators, contractors and suppliers: the Secretariat and Registers, First Schedule minimum levels, plans and half-yearly reports, and the principal penalties. The 2021 Act remains in force as at November 2026.
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Banking and finance
Guyana’s banking and financial regulatory framework: what lenders and financial institutions need to know
13 November 2026Fraser & Housty
An outline of the Financial Institutions Act and Bank of Guyana supervision, AML/CFT obligations of reporting entities, and how security is taken over land, company charges and movable property, including the Security Interests in Movable Property Act 2024.
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Mining
Guyana’s mining legal framework: licences, environmental requirements, foreign investment and the Gold Board
13 November 2026Fraser & Housty
An outline of the Mining Act 1989 and GGMC licensing at small, medium and large scale, environmental authorisation under the Environmental Protection Act 1996, the statutory limits on who may hold particular titles, including for foreign investors, and the Guyana Gold Board’s role in the purchase, sale and export of gold. No new Mining Act has been identified as at November 2026.
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Oil and gas
Guyana’s Petroleum Activities Act 2023: licensing and petroleum agreements
13 November 2026Fraser & Housty
The Petroleum Activities Act 2023 is the principal statute for petroleum exploration, production, storage and transportation. It vests property in petroleum in the State, provides for competitive tender and, in limited cases, direct negotiation, requires a field development plan for a production licence, and repeals the earlier exploration and production legislation. There is no Petroleum Commission in the Act: the Minister is responsible for administration.
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Corporate
Doing business in Guyana: company formation, investment facilitation, work permits and land
13 November 2026Fraser & Housty
A foreign investor may carry on business in Guyana through a local company or as a registered external company. Registration does not itself confer licences, land rights, tax exemptions or immigration status. GO-Invest facilitates investment; work permits and land title each have their own statutory regimes.
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Tax
Energy-sector taxation in Guyana: corporation tax, withholding and agreement-specific relief
13 November 2026Fraser & Housty
Corporation tax and withholding on payments to non-resident companies apply under the general tax statutes. Duty and VAT treatment of imports for petroleum operations may be governed by the particular petroleum agreement and current GRA guidance, and should not be assumed to be a general statutory exemption for all energy contractors and suppliers.
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Dispute resolution
Dispute resolution in Guyana: the Arbitration Act 2024, foreign awards and the Commercial Court
13 November 2026Fraser & Housty
Guyana’s current principal arbitration statute is the Arbitration Act 2024, which came into operation on 5 July 2024. Guyana is a party to the New York Convention. The Foreign Judgments (Reciprocal Enforcement) Act 2023, which contains no delayed-commencement clause, came into operation on the date of its publication in the Gazette, 2 August 2023, by virtue of the Interpretation and General Clauses Act. Commercial cases may be heard in the Commercial Court, a division of the High Court. The Caribbean Court of Justice is Guyana’s final appellate court, and has original jurisdiction over the Revised Treaty of Chaguaramas, under the Caribbean Court of Justice Act (Cap. 3:07).
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Intellectual property
Intellectual property in Guyana: the statutes in force, and a guide to trade marks
13 November 2026Fraser & Housty
There is no Industrial Property Act in force in Guyana. Trade marks are governed by the Trade Marks Act (Cap. 90:01), which has been in force since 1 January 1956. Patents and designs, geographical indications and copyright are the subject of other existing statutes. Guyana is not a party to the Madrid Protocol.
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Employment
Employment and immigration for energy contractors in Guyana
13 November 2026Fraser & Housty
The Termination of Employment and Severance Pay Act governs how contracts of employment may be ended, notice, unfair dismissal and severance. A foreign national who is to work in Guyana needs a work permit, and the vacancy must be advertised for three consecutive months. Petroleum contractors may also have local content hiring obligations.
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Regulatory
Public procurement and infrastructure projects in Guyana
13 November 2026Fraser & Housty
Public procurement is governed by the Procurement Act 2003, which came into effect in November 2004, and by later amendments and regulations. The National Procurement and Tender Administration and the Public Procurement Commission have statutory roles. No dedicated public-private partnership Act has been identified as being in force.
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Regulatory
Guyana’s Data Protection Act 2023: enactment and commencement
13 November 2026Fraser & Housty
The Data Protection Act 2023 has been passed and gazetted, but it comes into operation only on a date appointed by the Minister by order. As at the sources checked for this note, no commencement order has been identified. The operative duties in the Act should not be treated as being in force until that order is made and the appointed date has arrived.
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Real estate
Real estate and land title in Guyana: transports, certificates of title, leases and due diligence
13 November 2026Fraser & Housty
Guyana operates a dual system of land title: transports and leases at the Deeds Registry, and certificates of title at the Land Registry. Mortgages are registered in the corresponding registry. Due diligence on the particular parcel is essential. State land and Amerindian land are special statutory regimes.
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Caribbean Community
The Revised Treaty of Chaguaramas and its application in the Caribbean
13 November 2026Fraser & Housty
The Revised Treaty of Chaguaramas is the constitutive instrument of the Caribbean Community and of the CARICOM Single Market and Economy. The Caribbean Court of Justice interprets and applies the Treaty in its original jurisdiction, which is open to the twelve CSME Member States, and is also Guyana’s final court of appeal. Full free movement among four Member States from 1 October 2025 does not extend to Guyana, which remains on the existing CSME regime.
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Investment and tax
Investment incentives and foreign investment legislation in Guyana
13 November 2026Fraser & Housty
The Investment Act 2004 is Guyana’s principal investment-protection statute. It provides for non-discrimination, protection against compulsory acquisition, a right to purchase or lease land subject to other laws, and, subject to tax and specified limitations, the free transfer of funds abroad. Fiscal incentives sit in other statutes, including the Income Tax (In Aid of Industry) Act and the export-allowance provisions of the Income Tax Act, and in investment agreements processed through Go-Invest and the Guyana Revenue Authority. Guyana is a Contracting State of the ICSID Convention.
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Telecommunications
Telecommunications regulation in Guyana
13 November 2026Fraser & Housty
The Telecommunications Act 2016 and the Public Utilities Commission Act 2016 are the principal statutes for the liberalised telecommunications sector. Provisions of the Telecommunications Act not already in force, and the Public Utilities Commission Act 2016, came into operation on 5 October 2020. Licensing, spectrum, interconnection, pricing, consumer protection and competition are the subject of regulations gazetted on 23 October 2020. Related statutes include the Cybercrime Act 2018 and the Electronic Communications and Transactions Act 2023.
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Securities and capital markets
Securities regulation in Guyana
13 November 2026Fraser & Housty
The Securities Industry Act 1998 is the principal statute for the registration of securities, market participants and self-regulatory organisations, and for the regulation of issuances and market conduct. The Guyana Securities Council is the statutory regulator. A prospectus, disclosure and annual-reporting regime applies to issuers, and the Act contains dedicated provisions on market rigging, deception and insider dealing. The Council is also a supervisory authority for anti-money-laundering purposes, and has issued a 2025 guideline for securities reporting entities. This review has not identified a later amending Act to the 1998 statute.
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Estates
The administration of deceased persons’ estates in Guyana: wills, intestacy, probate and letters of administration
13 November 2026Fraser & Housty
A factual outline of how deceased persons’ estates are administered in Guyana: the formalities for a valid will, the statutory rules of intestacy including the 2021 change for a surviving spouse where there are no descendants, grants of probate and letters of administration, the duties of personal representatives, transmission of land, the resealing of Commonwealth grants, and the process fee that replaced estate duty.
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