About

Known as an expert in the banking sector, Gonzalo Mendez served as general counsel to financial services company ING from 1995 until 2009. During this period Mendez worked on the acquisition of Barings Bank following its collapse. After ING acquired its large insurance operation in the region, Mendez moved to the insurance operation where he was involved in the company’s key litigations and facilitated the sale of the division, Seguros ING, to AXA for $1.5bn in 2008. Since 2009, Mendez has been at HSBC México serving as general counsel, and now leads a team of over 80 lawyers with five directors reporting directly to him. Since joining the Mexican division of the international bank and financial services company, he has completely restructured the department to align with business unit operations, an essential step in the reorganisation process. Mendez secured increased investment for the legal department, is a member of various committees and reports directly to the CEO. He has also been successful in reducing litigation costs, a quantitative demonstration of the good work of the legal team. He attributes the significant reductions in the litigation portfolio to addressing the root causes and changing internal procedures. In 2012, he succeeded in negotiating an agreement with the US Government that resulted in a Deferred Prosecution Agreement protecting and preserving the company’s US banking license.