About

An in-house lawyer in the financial sector since 1989, Ulises Canosa Suárez is well known in Colombia’s legal market as an expert in the field. And having been at BBVA Colombia, a major Argentine bank with a 60-year presence in Colombia, as executive and legal affairs vice president and general secretary since 2001 he holds a longstanding and high-profile role. Highlighted again in this year’s research, Canosa continues to promote effective transitions towards digital banking programs which has placed the company in one of the top five most technologically updated entities within the financial sector in Colombia. His credentials are also enhanced by his management skills demonstrated through his leadership of the legal department of 89 in-house lawyers divided into areas such as legal, compliance, consumer protection and insurance. Whilst encouraging flexible working hours and teleworking to improve efficiency in the team, Canosa ensures his team are fully engaged with the business: ‘I profoundly believe that mechanisms such as seminars to assist the team to be updated and to know how to face the changes are key. In addition, holding constant meetings, open door policies and a supportive environment allows everyone to openly share their ideas, solve their questions and learn from each other’. As a result of these initiatives the legal area ranked number one in an internal survey that measures employee engagement, ‘which demonstrates that our team members are highly motivated, in a good emotional state and are highly intellectually involved in their tasks’, he states. Summing up his thoughts on the role of the in-house lawyer, which have stood him in good stead throughout his almost 30 year in-house career, Canosa says, ‘It is essential to provide tailored commercial and legal solutions to clients with complex business interests through an uncompromising approach to quality and service’. In addition to his role at BBVA, Canosa is also currently a member of the Ibero-American Institute of Procedural Law and general secretary of the Colombian Institute of Procedural Law, the Colombian Academy of Jurisprudence, the Commercial Lawyers Association, the Drafting Commission and the Reviewer of the Procedural General Code. Committed to the legal profession, he completed a Master’s degree in human rights, public policies and sustainability in 2017 and is currently studying a PhD in law at Universidad Libre de Colombia. He’s also an accomplished legal commentator having had numerous articles published over the years.