Capital markets, Financial services regulatory, M&A, Project development

Rafael Balda Santistevan is a Partner at Apolo Abogados, and his professional activity has primarily focused on constitutional; administrative; communications; trust; financial and capital markets; urban and rural real estate; corporate; and general corporate matters.

In the public sector, among various other positions, he served as the National Superintendent of the Securities Market at the Superintendency of Companies, Securities, and Insurance (SCVS) from 2013 to 2018, where he also acted as the Acting National Superintendent of Companies and Acting Superintendent of Companies, Securities, and Insurance. As the National Superintendent of the Securities Market, he successfully led the SCVS's efforts to achieve the subscription of the IOSCO's Multilateral Memorandum of Understanding (MMoU). Rafael also acted as a representative to the Latin American Group of Issuers of Financial Reporting Standards (GLENIF), a regional organization responsible for representing Latin America before the International Accounting Standards Board (IASB, issuer of IFRS), and as a permanent delegate to the Board of Financial and Monetary Policy and Regulation.

In academia, Rafael has been a guest professor of Law Theory at the Catholic University of Santiago de Guayaquil; an instructor at the Ibero-American Institute of Securities Markets in workshops aimed at regulatory and supervisory body officials in Latin America; a speaker and presenter at various forums, workshops, and conferences; and has published articles on corporate, securities, electoral, constitutional law, and political science. He has been interviewed and quoted as a political analyst in various local and international media outlets, including The New York Times.

Ecuadorian Forum of Lawyers, Guayas Province Bar

Partner

Rafael completed his higher education at the Catholic University of Santiago de Guayaquil in law, the University of Palermo in international relations and political science, and also obtained a Global Certificate in Financial Regulation from Harvard Law School.