Team size: 15

LATAM countries your role covers: We cover several jurisdictions in the LATAM region, but in terms of volume the largest are Mexico, Brazil, Peru, and Chile.

What are the most significant cases and transactions in the LATAM region that you or your legal team have recently been involved in?

This year, we have been involved in several technically complex cases, typically including wealth generated from the sale of a family business, where members of the family may be in different jurisdictions or are planning to relocate to a different country, which requires a detailed cross-border analysis. As a trend, we have seen a significant increase in the number of affluent clients relocating from Spanish-speaking LATAM countries to Spain and from Brazil to Portugal for different reasons. In Utmost Wealth Solutions, we have tailor-made insurance-based solutions for these situations which are fully compliant with EU legislation, making them perfectly portable to other jurisdictions, something particularly relevant for HNW and UHNW LATAM families with global mobility needs.

What are your organisations plans in the LATAM region over the next 12 months and how will your legal expertise help to achieve these plans?

Due to the current economic and political environment, we are observing an increase in business from affluent Latin American families that wish to relocate to Europe or are preparing to relocate in the future. Additionally, we have detected a growing interest in Latin American families for life insurance solutions to serve their wealth and estate planning needs as a result of some region’s political instability and the potential increase in local taxation, among others. For this reason, we have increased our dedicated resources to support the LATAM region, in addition to enhancing our product functionality in cooperation with other local country experts.

How do you adapt your legal counselling to align with the diverse business practices and customs of various LATAM countries?

Given the diversity of the LATAM countries we cover, it certainly requires a deep understanding of the cultural, legal, political, and economic characteristics of the various countries. For this reason, it is very important for us to be up to date on any relevant legal, regulatory or tax news that may affect our business practice and our clients in LATAM. Therefore, we like to collaborate with local country experts based in the relevant LATAM jurisdictions, who can provide us with valuable insights and guidance on the latest domestic legal framework, any new wealth planning trends, and recent developments.

Additionally, we noticed that language skills (Spanish and Portuguese) are key when dealing with the different LATAM stakeholders, as this leads to an efficient communication and gives them more reassurance and trust. Finally, it is important to be flexible and be able to adapt the approach or proposition to the different LATAM countries since what works in one country may not work in another.