About

Founded in 1971, COFIDE is Peru’s state-owned development bank that has the aim of creating sustainable development for the benefit of the country’s various economic agents and capital markets. The legal department is tasked with providing assistance and advice to the board, the general management and all areas of the bank on legal matters related to the development of these activities, including the management of proceedings brought to defend the bank’s interests or achieve a better debt recovery. Made up of 14 lawyers, the legal department is led by general counsel and chief compliance officer Hernán Vásquez. Other senior notable members include deputy manager of the business legal advising departments Javier Lagos, deputy manager of legal financial advice and regulation Marco Roncagliolo and deputy compliance manager Massiel Arrieta. Amongst the most significant cases the team worked on during 2018, the team participated in a US$142m financing of Ergon Peru’s off-grid power distributed generation project, wherein SMBC committed US$71m while COFIDE provided the other half. The legal team has been responsible for preparing inter-institutional agreements with local and international institutions, completing various deals and financing plans and implementing several measures to strengthen the equity of the bank. The team was also behind a US$183m financing granted to Terminal Portuario Paracas in order to finance the development and upgrade of the Puerto General San Martín de Pisco project. ‘We are committed to the sustainable and inclusive development of our country and of all Peruvians, fostering an innovative, socially responsible cultural and human capital aimed at excellence in management’, says Vásquez. In order to promote this vision, the legal function bases its strategy on generating development through a triple bottom line management, seeking to accomplish a positive impact on the economic, social and environmental spheres.