RESPONSE LETTER
Simpson Thacher & Bartlett llp
425 Lexington Avenue
New York, N.Y. 10017-3954
(212) 455-2000
Facsimile (212) 455-2502
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Direct Dial Number
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E-Mail Address |
212-455-7433
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dwilliams@stblaw.com |
November
22, 2006
VIA EDGAR
Pradip Bhaumik
Securities and Exchange Commission
Division of Corporation Finance
100 F Street, NE
Washington, DC 20549
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Re: |
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Copa Holdings, S.A.
Form 20-F for the Fiscal Year Ended December 31, 2005
filed on June 30, 2006 (File No. 1-32696) |
Ladies and Gentlemen:
On behalf of Copa Holdings, S.A. (the Company), we are writing to respond to the
comments set forth in the Commissions staffs comment letter dated November 9, 2006 relating to
the above-referenced form 20-F of the Company filed on June 30, 2006, pursuant to the Securities
Exchange Act of 1934, as amended.
General
1. |
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Please refer to comment 2 in our letter dated September 25, 2006. In light of the
significance of the amount of operating revenues relating to your business in Cuba during
the year ended December 31, 2005 and the six-month period ended June 30, 2006, it appears
to the staff that it would be appropriate for future filings that include financial
statements for those periods, or for subsequent periods in which similar percentages of
your operating revenues are derived from your Cuba-related operations, to include
additional disclosure regarding the nature and extent of your Cuba-related operations. The
disclosure should include appropriate discussion of
any risks associated with your Cuba-related operations, including any risk to your
reputation and the liquidity and value of your stock due to the fact that you derive a
portion of your operating revenue from operations in a country identified as a
terrorist-sponsoring state. Please provide us with the text of your next such proposed
disclosure. |
In response to the Staffs comment, the Company proposes to include the following additional
disclosure in Item 3.D Risk Factors of its future filings on Form 20-F.
Copa Holdings, S.A.
November 22, 2006
Page 2 of 2
Our operations in Cuba, which has been identified by the U.S. Department of State as a state
sponsor of terrorism, may adversely affect our reputation and the liquidity and value of
our Class A shares.
We currently operate approximately six daily departures to and from Cuba which provide
passenger, cargo and mail transportation service. For the year ended December 31, 2006, our
transported passengers to and from Cuba represented approximately ___% of our total passengers
carried. Our operating revenues from Cuban operations during the year ended December 31, 2006
represented approximately ___% of our total consolidated
operating revenues for such year. Our assets located in Cuba are
insignificant.
Cuba has been identified by the United States government as a state sponsor of terrorism, and
the U.S. Treasury Departments Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) administers and enforces
economic and trade sanctions based on U.S. foreign policy against Cuba and certain other targeted
foreign countries. You should understand that our overall business reputation may suffer as a
result of our activities in Cuba, particularly if such activities grow in the future. Certain U.S.
states have recently enacted legislation regarding investments by pension funds and other
retirement systems in companies, such as ours, that have business activities with Cuba and other
countries that have been identified as terrorist-sponsoring states. Similar legislation may be
pending in other states. As a result, pension funds and other retirement systems may be subject to
new reporting requirements and other burdensome restrictions with respect to investments in
companies such as ours. Pension funds and similar institutions represent an important source of
demand for our shares, and if their willingness to invest in and hold our shares were to diminish
as a result of any such requirements or restrictions, or for any other reason, it would likely have
a material adverse effect on the liquidity and value of our Class A shares.
______________________________
Please call me (212-455-7433) or my colleague, Celine Hwang (212-455-7761), with any questions
you may have regarding this filing or if you wish to discuss the above responses.
Very truly yours,
/s/ David L. Williams
______________________________________
David L. Williams
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cc: |
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Max A. Webb, Securities and Exchange Commission
Cecilia D. Blye, Securities and Exchange Commission
Pedro Heilbron, Copa Holdings, S.A.
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