Focus on the general counsel: a sustainable role

There are countless challenges a general counsel of a family office faces to provide its members with reliable tools to strengthen the corporate governance of the group and the decision-making bodies with a view to the transcendence of the organisation for future generations, allowing them to adapt to changes and face the turbulence of the national and international environment.

The above requires from the general counsel deep legal knowledge, soft skills, acute intuition, experience, a vision of the future, and the necessary calmness in difficult moments, to see the forest beyond the trees, leading from their point of view the processes and transactions that arise in an innovative, efficient and effective way, minimising risks and contingencies.

The general counsel cannot act alone in this task, but as a team player in coordination with the CEO and other departments of the company, to build and maintain a robust organisation, with openness and a global outlook, capable of facing challenges and providing the support the board requires.

At MH, we have been working for some time now on various aspects to strengthen the capability of the group to be a relevant player, leaving a positive mark in the places where it operates. To this end, we have focused on three key topics:

Corporate Values: We have defined the values that identify the company— respect, innovation, excellence and sustainability. We have asked the team to promote and reflect them in our daily activities and use them as guidelines. As general counsel, this challenge requires leaving the comfort zone, exploring and proposing dynamic and flexible. Innovative alternative solutions to the group’s requirements, constantly evaluating with a critical eye how the legal area works to capture opportunities for improvement.

Culture Management: this requires promoting and reinforcing the culture of integrity and compliance within the company, developing and constantly reviewing our protocols and internal regulations in line with the corporate values and ESG criteria, and communicating and explaining them across the organisation. This allows us to generate confidence in the operation of corporate structures and understand the purpose sought and the seriousness of the risks.

Sustainability Management: our activity within the company and our relationship with third parties must be consistent with the group’s values and sustainability policy. This involves applying such values and approaches and considering ESG criteria in the general counsel’s advisory role to support the board and senior management properly. This allows the group to articulate the economic, legal, social and environmental factors linked to strategic decisions and daily operations in a harmonious and balanced way. The concept of social interest that general counsel must keep in mind in their advisory role includes not only the company’s shareholders but also other stakeholders to foresee potential risks better and apply appropriate mitigation measures.