Event information
On January 21, 2025, Legal 500 will host the highly anticipated GC Summit Colombia, a gathering of the nation’s most prominent legal professionals to discuss the critical issues shaping the industry. This premier event offers an exceptional networking opportunity while delving into the challenges and opportunities facing general counsel in today’s dynamic legal and corporate environment.
The summit will explore the pressing topic of corporate taxation, providing strategic insights into navigating Colombia’s evolving tax landscape amidst ongoing reforms. It will also address the complexities of corporate criminal law and compliance, focusing on how legal professionals can shift from risk management to building resilience. A key highlight will be the groundbreaking implications of Law No. 2387 of 2024, which introduces potential personal liability for corporate officers facing administrative environmental fines, challenging general counsel to rethink their risk mitigation strategies.
Further, the summit will tackle the pervasive issue of conflicts of interest, examining their impact on governance, business integrity, and legal accountability while offering solutions for fostering trust and transparency.
The GC Summit Colombia 2025 is not just a gathering; it is a vital platform where the nation’s legal leaders will engage in transformative conversations to shape the future of corporate law, compliance, and leadership.
Agenda
1.00pm – 1.45pm Registration
1.45pm – 1.50pm Opening remarks
- Joe Boswell, event content and research manager, Legal 500
1.50pm – 2.40pm Navigating Corporate Taxation in Colombia: Challenges, Reforms, and Strategic Insights
This panel will offer a detailed analysis of corporate taxation in Colombia, focusing on the key taxes that impact businesses, including Corporate Income Tax, VAT, Wealth Tax, and other corporate obligations. The discussion will cover the latest tax reforms and their implications for companies, with a focus on changes in tax rates, fiscal incentives, and evolving compliance requirements. In-house counsel will gain valuable insights on how to effectively manage corporate tax obligations, mitigate tax risks, and navigate the complexities of the Colombian tax system. Additionally, the panel will explore the impact of international tax standards, particularly those set by the OECD, and how Colombia’s alignment with global tax practices, such as Base Erosion and Profit Shifting (BEPS), is shaping the corporate tax landscape. This session will equip legal professionals with the tools to optimise fiscal strategy, manage compliance efficiently, and understand the risks and opportunities within Colombia’s dynamic tax environment.
- Jairo Higuita Naranjo, managing partner, Esguerra JHR and Andersen in Colombia
- Carlos Giovanni Rodríguez, partner, Esguerra JHR and Andersen in Colombia
- Bibiana Buitrago Duarte, partner, Esguerra JHR and Andersen in Colombia
- Carlos Felipe Payan Rodriguez, senior corporate legal counsel and compliance officer, Avaya
- Mario Gómez, vice president of legal affairs, Alianza Fiduciaria
2.40pm – 3.30pm From Risk to Resilience: Mastering Corporate Criminal Law and Compliance
This panel will explore the topic of corporate criminal law and compliance, examining the legal and ethical implications of corporate criminal liability within the framework of Colombian legislation. Experts in criminal law and compliance will discuss with renowned in-house lawyers how organizations can prevent, detect, and manage the legal risks associated with illicit activities in the corporate sector. Additionally, the panelists will address current discussions in corporate criminal law and defense mechanisms in light of new responsibilities for managers and board members, considering lessons learned from from recent cases in Colombia and internationally.
- Andrés Francisco Sintura Sánchez, partner, Francisco Sintura
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Francisco José Sintura Varela, managing partner, Francisco Sintura
- Jorge Adrián Rincón Plata, chief legal officer, Grupo Aval
- Nestor Fagua Guauque, legal and compliance vice president, Grupo Energía Bogotá
- Juliana Hoyos, general counsel, SierraCol
3.30pm – 3.45pm Coffee break
3.45pm – 4.35pm New Challenges for General Counsel: Potential Personal Liability of Corporate Officers for Administrative Environmental Fines Under Law No. 2387 of 2024
The passage of Law No. 2387 in 2024 introduces personal liability for corporate officers facing administrative environmental fines, fundamentally altering the responsibilities of general counsel. This panel examines the law’s impact, exploring how general counsel must now navigate the dual role of managing corporate compliance while mitigating personal liability for officers.
The discussion will focus on adapting corporate governance strategies, updating internal controls, and aligning compliance frameworks to address these new risks. Attendees will gain practical insights into managing liability, revising indemnification policies, and responding effectively to enforcement actions.
Through analysis of hypothetical scenarios, this session equips general counsel and executives with the tools to proactively address the heightened challenges posed by Law No. 2387.
- Erika Serrano, partner, Posse Herrera Ruiz
- Lina María Betancourth Betancur, legal manager, Colombina
- Jorge Mario Castillo, senior general counsel, Automotores Toyota Colombia
- Alberto Duque Ramírez, director of legal and corporate affairs, Enel Colombia
4.35pm – 5.25pm Ethical Dilemmas: Addressing Conflicts of Interest in Colombia’s legal market
This panel explores the critical issue of conflicts of interest within Colombia’s legal market, delving into their nature and foundational principles. It examines the interplay between “business conflicts” and the use of ethical safeguards, such as informational barriers or “walls,” to mitigate risks. The discussion will highlight the responsibilities of administrators in navigating these dilemmas, alongside the ethical obligations of legal advisors as they balance professional integrity with commercial growth. Finally, the panel will assess how these conflicts shape competition and redefine the legal market—challenging professionals to reconcile ethics with ambition
- Enrique Gómez-Pinzón, executive partner, Holland & Knight
- Jose Vicente Zapata, partner, Holland & Knight
- Fabiola Margarita Martinez, regional legal vice president, Cemex
5.25pm – 5.30pm Closing remarks
- Joe Boswell, event content and research manager, Legal 500
5.30pm – 6.30pm Drinks and canapés
Speakers
Jairo Higuita Naranjo, managing partner, Esguerra JHR and Andersen in Colombia
Managing Partner at Esguerra JHR and Andersen in Colombia. A lawyer specialising in Tax Law, with over 20 years of experience in fiscal matters and wealth management, he is recognised as a leading expert in national and international tax advisory services, particularly in the financial sector and capital markets.
Throughout his professional career, he has held positions at the National Directorate of Taxes and Customs (DIAN) and has worked with multinational firms in the fields of taxation and legal services. His dedication to academia has led him to serve as a professor in the Specialisation in Tax Law and the Master’s in Economic Law programmes at Pontificia Universidad Javeriana, as well as in the Specialisation in International Tax Management at Universidad EAFIT and in specialised courses at ColCapital.
Carlos Giovanni Rodríguez, partner, Esguerra JHR and Andersen in Colombia
Partner at Esguerra JHR and Andersen in Colombia. A lawyer and accountant, he holds a specialisation and a master’s degree in State Law with a focus on Taxation. He has a solid track record advising companies across various sectors, excelling in infrastructure, finance, automotive, and healthcare within the practice of Tax Law.
He is a member of the Board of Directors of the ICDT and a participant in the Academic Technical, Accounting, and Economic Commission of this institute. Additionally, he has lectured at renowned universities such as Universidad de los Andes, Externado de Colombia, Pontificia Universidad Javeriana, and Universidad Central, further consolidating his passion for teaching.
Bibiana Buitrago Duarte, partner, Esguerra JHR and Andersen in Colombia
Partner at Esguerra JHR and Andersen in Colombia. With over 20 years of experience in both the public and private sectors, Bibiana is an expert in Tax, Customs, and Foreign Exchange Law, Wealth Management, and Transfer Pricing, with a particular focus on sectors such as capital markets, trust companies, non-profit organisations, and service providers.
She is a member of the Women’s Directory of ColCapital Women in Alternative Investments and a researcher at the Externadista Centre for Fiscal Studies. A regular speaker at forums and seminars, she has also published articles in specialised media and lectures in undergraduate and postgraduate programmes at various universities.
Andrés Francisco Sintura Sánchez, partner, Francisco Sintura
Lawyer and psychologist from the Universidad de los Andes, with a specialisation in criminal law from the Universidad del Rosario, in financial legislation from the Universidad de los Andes, and in anti-money laundering prevention from ACAMS. He is a litigator in high-profile corporate criminal law cases. He also advises companies on criminal risk prevention, leads compliance programme assessments, and provides consultancy on the implications of convictions against former executives and agreements with entities such as the DOJ and SEC (USA) in Colombia. He stands out as a professor and trainer in criminal procedure, litigation techniques, and regulatory compliance. He maintains an interdisciplinary approach, combining his expertise in criminal and financial law with psychology to offer comprehensive and innovative legal solutions.
Francisco Sintura, managing partner, Francisco Sintura
Lawyer graduated from the Universidad del Rosario, with a specialisation in criminal sciences and criminology from the Universidad Externado de Colombia and in financial law from the Universidad de los Andes. He also holds a master’s degree in law with a specialisation in oral litigation from California Western School of Law (San Diego, California) and in cybersecurity and compliance from the Universitat Internacional de Catalunya (Spain). He is the director of the criminal law department at the Universidad del Rosario and a substitute judge (Conjuez) of the Criminal Chamber of the Supreme Court of Justice.
He has held important positions such as head of the division of foreign trade at the banking superintendency, head of the control division at the Central Bank of Colombia, legal advisor to the Presidency of the Republic, and deputy attorney general of the Nation. He has also participated in consultancies for UNDP, UNODC, and the governments of Colombia, Peru, and Honduras
Enrique Gómez-Pinzón, executive partner, Holland & Knight
Enrique Gómez-Pinzón is the executive partner of Holland & Knight’s Bogotá office and specialises in mergers and acquisitions (M&A), cross-border investment and financing, corporate compliance, international arbitration, and project financing. He has been involved in some of the most significant M&A transactions in Colombia over the last 30 years, including in sectors such as logistics, pharmaceuticals, banking, energy, and petroleum. Mr Gómez-Pinzón has also represented clients in M&A deals across Latin America and the United States.
With extensive experience in corporate matters, he advises companies on compliance programmes, internal investigations, and minimising legal exposure. He has represented contractors before the World Bank Sanctions Committee and served as an arbitrator in international investment cases with various organisations, including ICSID, ICC, and PCA.
A former founder and director of one of Colombia’s largest law firms, he co-founded the Colombian-Japanese Chamber of Commerce and served on several boards, including the Bogotá Stock Exchange. He also represented Colombia as the director of its Trade Bureau in Washington, D.C., and participated in important international trade conferences, including WTO and FTAA meetings.
Jorge Adrián Rincón Plata, chief legal officer, Grupo Aval
Jorge Adrián Rincón Plata is a lawyer from the Universidad Autónoma de Bucaramanga. He holds an LL.M. in International Business Law from Queen Mary & Westfield College – University of London. He has also completed studies in Exchange Rate Regimes at the Universidad Externado de Colombia, International Law at the Organization of American States, and Regulation and Operation of the Securities Market at the Universidad de los Andes.
He began his career in the financial sector in 2006 as a lawyer at the Legal Department and later as Legal Advisor to the International Vice Presidency and Treasury at Banco de Bogotá. Since 2012, he has been part of the executive team at Grupo Aval Acciones y Valores S.A., the financial holding company of the conglomerate, where he currently serves as Corporate Legal Vice President of the Group.
For nearly 20 years, Dr. Rincón has had the privilege of participating in the major transactions of the financial conglomerate, among which stand out the Group’s expansion and internationalization process with the acquisition of BAC-Credomatic by Banco de Bogotá in 2010, the acquisition of AFP Horizonte by Porvenir, the acquisition of the Financial Group Reformador in Guatemala, and the acquisition of BBVA Panama Bank by BAC Credomatic in 2013. More recently, he was involved in the acquisition of Multifinancial Group Inc., the parent company of the Panamanian bank Multibank, in 2020.
He has also participated in various operations in the local and international capital markets, including the first international bond issuance by Banco de Bogotá in 2011, and notably, Grupo Aval’s debut on Wall Street with the initial public offering of ADRs on the New York Stock Exchange in 2014.
Carlos Felipe Payan Rodriguez, senior corporate legal counsel and compliance officer, Avaya
Corporate and legal counsel at Avaya for Mexico, Andean Region and Caribbean and Central America-CCA where he also acts as compliance officer for Colombia. Lawyer from the University Externado de Colombia, LLM in French, European and International Business Law, from Paris-2 Pantheon Assas University, Paris, France. Recently (2023) he finished an Executive Master-LLM in Business Law at the Instituto de Empresa-IE in Madrid, Spain. He is a postgraduate professor at the Universidad Externado de Colombia in Business Law (Compliance) and Intellectual Property.
Mario Gómez, vice president of legal affairs, Alianza Fiduciaria
Mario Gómez, an attorney from Universidad Javeriana, specialises in administrative and tax law. In his professional career, he has worked in the public sector in areas such as disciplinary law and state contracting, serving in entities such as the Office of the Attorney General of the Nation, the Bogotá Surveillance and Security Fund, and the Bogotá Water and Sewerage Company. In the private sector, he has been associated with Grupo Alianza, where he has led corporate, contractual, and procedural matters for more than fifteen years.
Jose Vicente Zapata, partner, Holland & Knight
José Vicente Zapata is an attorney in Holland & Knight’s Bogotá office and has more than 30 years of experience in the natural resources sector. He focuses his practice on corporate, contractual and commercial matters, with a strong focus in spin-offs, and M&A. Mr. Zapata co-chairs the firm’s Venezuela Focus Team, a group of partners who assists clients with interests in the country.
Mr. Zapata has led regulatory matters for many years on the environment, energy and natural resources. He has experience with corporate compliance matters, including the definition of ethics programmes, Sistema de Autocontrol y Gestión del Riesgo Integral de Lavado de Activos y Financiación del Terrorismo (SAGRILAFT) and knowledge management for effective regulatory compliance, as well as liability cases for contractual and non-contractual damages.
Mr. Zapata’s clients include electric, oil, gas, mining, agrochemical and industrial companies, and he advises them on the structuring of foreign investment transactions, corporate reorganizations, and mergers and acquisitions (M&A) as well as matters of environmental liability and judicial proceedings such as class actions and international claims.
Throughout his career, Mr. Zapata has represented clients in many of the largest transactions made in Colombia to date in the energy, mining, oil and gas sectors, and assisted a range of companies in entering the energy market, obtaining mining and oil and gas concessions and structuring the contractual arrangements for such purposes. He negotiates share purchase and sale agreements, foreign direct investment management, asset purchase and sale agreements (including commercial establishments), joint operating agreements, farm-in and farm-outs, distribution, franchising and agency agreements, collaboration agreements, real estate regulatory mechanisms, structuring of real estate projects, authorizations and operating permits. More recently, Mr. Zapata is active in renewable energy projects and has led wind farm, solar ventures and energy storage solutions as well as hydrogen and geothermal regulatory assessments, including zoning analysis, management of protected and exclusion zones and areas, and analysis of legal options for land use definition.
Nestor Fagua Guauque, legal and compliance vice president, Grupo Energía Bogotá
Juliana Hoyos, general counsel, SierraCol
She is a lawyer from the University of Los Andes, with a focus on finance. She completed a specialisation in Corporate Social Responsibility at the Externado University of Colombia. Born in Cúcuta, she joined Occidental in 2011. In December 2020, she was appointed General Counsel of SierraCol Energy, leading the Company’s legal department. Prior to joining Occidental, she worked as an associate at a leading law firm in Colombia, specialising in mergers, acquisitions, and general corporate matters.
Erika Serrano, partner, Posse Herrera Ruiz
Erika Serrano is a partner at Posse Herrera Ruiz. Her practice focuses on Natural Resources and Environmental Law.
Erika has more than 12 years of experience working on environmental issues in the public and private sectors. Before joining Posse Herrera Ruiz, she was an associate attorney for a law firm in Santiago de Chile and Bogotá, environmental legal advisor for a company in the environmental sanitation sector, and consultant at the District Secretary for the Environment and the Special Administrative Unit of National Natural Parks of Colombia.
She has extensive experience in environmental permissive and sanctioning processes, as well as in the management and handling of controlled chemical substances. She is a lawyer from the Universidad del Rosario, has a specialization in Environmental Law from the same University, and a Master’s in Environmental Law from the Queen Mary University of London (United Kingdom).
Lina María Betancourth Betancur, legal manager, Colombina
Lawyer with a master’s degree in business law, a specialisation in commercial law from the Pontificia Universidad Javeriana (Cali), and a specialisation in environmental law from the Universidad Externado de Colombia (Bogotá). With over 12 years of experience in matters related to commercial law, consumer law, competition law, and environmental law; the development of legal strategies; the incorporation of national and foreign commercial companies; the drafting of contracts; and the management of intellectual property in companies across various sectors with both national and international reach.
Currently, I serve as the Legal Manager of the Grupo Empresarial Colombina, a position from which I legally represent the company in judicial defence in proceedings before various authorities in Colombia. Additionally, I am responsible for directing, coordinating, distributing, supporting, and supervising the activities of the legal team to ensure proper advice and management of legal matters, with the aim of ensuring full compliance with regulations and laws applicable to the companies within the Group in Colombia and in the countries where it has a presence in international markets.
Jorge Mario Castillo, senior general counsel, Automotores Toyota Colombia
Jorge Mario Castillo-Salas is the senior general counsel of Autonotores Toyota Colombia. A lawyer with over 20 years of experience with a Masters degree from American Universuty – Washington College of Law in Legal Studies and International Law, has held legal positions on different practices at a national or regional level in Refinería de Cartagena, AIG, LegalSource and the Chamberb of Commerce of Bogotá. Jorge Mario was also an associate for Posse Herrera & Ruiz in the Corporate and M&A teams.
Fabiola Margarita Martinez, regional legal vice president, Cemex
Fabiola Martinez Garcia holds a B.A. in Law from the Universidad Javeriana, with a specialisation in Commercial Law from the Universidad de Los Andes and a Master’s in Commercial Law from the Universidad Externado de Colombia. With over 30 years of experience in various management positions, Mrs. Martinez joined Cemex in 2017 as Legal Vice President for operations in Colombia and Peru.
Currently, Mrs. Martinez is the Regional Legal Vice President for Cemex’s operations in Central America, South America, and the Caribbean. She is also the General Counsel of Cemex Latam Holdings, S.A., and additionally, she is a member of the Board of Directors of Cemex Colombia S.A.
Alberto Duque Ramírez, director of legal and corporate affairs, Enel Colombia
