Team size: 15

What are the most significant cases or transactions that your legal team has recently been involved in?

In companies today, and especially in the mining industry, all ESG-related issues have become crucial for legitimacy. In this context, it is important to note that the Chilean regulator passed a new rule requiring public companies to disclose a substantial amount of ESG related information to the market by means of integrating this data to the company’s yearly reports.

In this context, our legal teams have been focused on all ESG related issues, like green linked financing and bonds, all ESG reporting and compliance of environmental issues. Within these areas, we work very closely with the finance and investor relations divisions to provide accurate data that can be used by investors in the decision-making processes. Also, we have been active in structuring and financing new green assets like a green hydrogen plant in one of our facilities to produce, in the future, green steel.

Another topic that has become critical for listed companies in Chile, is the criminal liability of legal entities. In Chile, congress recently passed a new law in relation to corporate crimes that can commit legal entities. This new law will change the compliance areas of the companies, and all of these crimes will be part of the risk matrix of the companies and will be managed by different officers and areas throughout the companies, not just by a compliance officer. Today, we are principally a mining company, and this law has a big impact on our management, in relation to all the environmental crimes that a mining company can commit under the new law. Our legal and compliance teams have been focused on adapting the compliance culture and teams to these big new challenges.

How important is choosing to work with external lawyers who align with your company’s values? Are you likely to reconsider what firms you work with based on this?

In relation to external lawyers, alignment with the company’s values has become critical. Under the new regulation of corporate crimes, companies are liable for the actions of their external lawyers. However, the companies today not only want to comply with the law, but they also want to go further and do business in an ethical and sustainable way. It is critical that the law firms that the companies hire are aligned and in the company’s compliance values. In our case, we train our external lawyers in our company’s values, and have stopped working with law firms that we felt are not aligned with our values.

What diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives have you and your legal department been championing within your company’s endeavours?

One of our main strategic focuses in ESG related matters is to do with diversity. In the iron ore mining and steel sector, it is historically not easy to find diverse talent. In all areas, we have strategies to capture diverse talent and we have, over time, improved consistently in this very important issue in the strategy of the companies.