About

Juan Pablo Araya Marco first joined Banco Central de Chile in 2004, originally operating as a senior lawyer in the office of the general counsel, and took on a number of other high-profile posts including as interim secretary general of the bank in 2009, before being appointed general counsel of the Central Bank in 2014. As a senior lawyer during the global financial crisis of 2008-2009, Araya is well aware of the Bank’s key role in protecting the Chilean economy, and lists this chapter as a major formative experience on his evolution as a financial-based general counsel. Since taking on his current role, he has provided an ever-greater impact on the success of key Bank projects. ‘My team and I played a crucial role advising and supporting the board and financial policy division of Banco Central in the adoption of new financial regulations applicable to electronic payment means, which were adopted in 2017 and revised in 2018’, Araya explains. ‘The legal department that I lead – along with staff of Banco Central, the Ministry of Finance and Superintendence of Banks – also participated in the technical supporting work of the bill that turned into the major reform of Chilean banking legislation in last decades. This reform, introduced by Law N° 21.130 and published in January of 2019, shall allow our country to update the regulations applicable to banks in accordance with the Basel III standards’. A forward-thinking individual, Araya has put a great deal of effort into mentoring the lawyers of his team to ensure the company has a high standard of in-house counsel throughout its ranks. To this end, he created the deputy general counsel position within the team, among other internal improvements. ‘All these changes have injected fresh wisdom and energy to our legal department, also composed by other outstanding lawyers with five or more years of experience in Banco Central conforming a very solid and trustable legal team’, Araya says. His efforts have gone a long way to ensuring the high standard of in-house legal performance he has been responsible for during his tenure is likely to continue in the future.