Filipa Salazar Leite has been leading the legal function of SUMOL+COMPAL, the leader in the Portuguese non-alcoholic beverages market, for more than 14 years – first as a secondee for six years (when the company was still Sumolis) then taking up the position full-time since 2010.

She played a significant role in the 2008 merger of Sumol and Compal, the two biggest soft drinks companies in Portugal at the time. The company now has businesses in many countries, mainly African, European and Asian, and as a big domestic company deals with complex legal matters within several different companies of the same Group primarily regarding the composition of its share capital and the obligations as a listed company. Leite has impressed nominators with her work on supporting this among other projects: ‘It is not of a minor importance to stress [her] skills concerning the internal job organisation’, said one peer.

Over the course of her tenure at the company, Leite advanced the legal function’s position internally as she explains: ‘The legal department has a growing importance in SUMOL+COMPAL as it is, nowadays, part of the solution of some problems but also, growingly, an active motor of improvements as regards compliance, awareness and procedures’. She has also been a key figure in the company’s most important transactions including agreements with Angolan and European shareholders, clients in around 70 countries, representation of big international brands like Pepsi, 7Up and Guaraná Antática and the distribution of partners’ brands, like Lipton Ice Tea and Damm beer. She says this allowed her to be ‘more flexible and have an extremely wide range of different experiences and responsibilities’. More recently, Leite is assisting the company in its process of delisting, creating a structured compliance programme and function and also implementing the 2016 European Regulation on Data Privacy.

Nominators were keen to highlight her various skills: ‘[Leite] is a very dynamic and innovative lawyer, always searching for new and more efficient solutions, to assure SUMOL+COMPAL’s success. Furthermore, she is unanimously considered a conciliating, participative and collaborative member of the team, always having in mind the importance of the accuracy of her legal advice and the ex-ante risk evaluation. She is a proactive and optimistic person who strongly believes that internal compliance and respect is reflected in the company’s results and external reputation’.