About

Since its foundation in 1994, Banco del Bajío has transitioned from being a niche bank to one with national coverage offering a full range of banking products and services. Having joined the company in 1999 as manager of contracts, current legal director for the business division Rafael Octavio Romo Aguiñaga has guided the company from a legal standpoint for most of its existence. Reflecting on the major challenges that the bank has confronted over the past 20 years, Romo says, ‘the changes in applicable legislation, competition, globalisation and the use of information technologies in bank transactions’ have all been prevalent. These changes have ‘obligated the legal areas of the bank to consistently stay updated and attentive to those changes in order to meet all requirements for the banking sector’. In particular, Romo ensures his department work towards standardising contracts for credit, fixing legal criteria and establishing direct communication with all areas of the business and, on occasion, facilitate the closing of operations and take care of any legal risks that may exist in banking transactions. In 2017 Banco del Bajío was the first company in the State of Guanajuato to offer an IPO on the Mexican Securities Market. Romo’s management of his legal department ensured the additional responsibilities of transparency, social responsibility, corporate governance and a stricter code of conduct that is imposed were met to the highest standards possible. Grateful for his position, Romo says, ‘Banco del Bajio has been an environment that has enabled me to grow both personally and professionally, without sacrificing the quality of my life’. Before joining the bank, Romo had a successful legal career in the public sector: he was a legal assessor of Congress for the State of Guanajuato between 1997 and 1999, and before that was director of the Legal Municipality of Guanajuato for two years. He graduated in law in 1994 from the University of Guanajuato, an institution he has been teaching law classes at since 1996.