First, can you please give us an idea of the sort of work your team has done recently? 

The legal and compliance area of which I am part works in the form of synergy for the companies AFP Crecer, Seguros Crecer and the recently acquired Creciendo Seguros, which sometimes represents a real challenge, since they are, in all cases, regulated sectors. Therefore, we must be extremely clear about the regulations that govern us and the situations that could affect the companies we represent; in addition, when making our decisions, we have to know when to act on the part of the insurance sector, and when to do it on the part of the pension fund administrators, trying not to act to the detriment of those who are not represented.  

In general, Crecer companies always seek to carry out projects that not only benefit the business as such, but in some way contribute to the collective and benefit our nation. We worked on collaboration agreements signed with UNIBE and Junior Achievement Dominica. The first, with UNIBE, was done in order to carry out a specialised course in general aspects of the Dominican social security system, aimed at professionals in the area of human resources who would like, free of charge, to be trained and kept updated in everything related to the subject. The second, signed with Junior Achievement, seeks to impact around 2,000 students from 20 universities nationwide, with the aim of strengthening their knowledge about the pension system of the Dominican Republic and its impact on the country’s growth.  

We are also part of the transaction by virtue, of which the company Banesco Seguros (later renamed Creciendo Seguros), was acquired, which has demanded a lot of time and effort on our part. This has meant that we all have to work together to achieve the objectives we have set, without losing sight of the individuality of each company, which entails having the ability to act in an organised, intelligent and effective way.  

How do you stay up-to-date with changes in laws and regulations relevant to your organisation’s industry? 

In my case, this could represent a challenge, taking into account that I currently reside in Panama, but my professional performance is in the Dominican Republic, providing services remotely for the companies Crecer, for about a year and a half. However, despite this, it has been possible to keep up thanks to several factors: our companies are part of the legal committees of different conglomerates that group insurers and AFP’s, so, from that platform, we are aware of many regulatory projects that concern us, and we also have the opportunity to study them and express our opinions about it, so, in that sense, we are aware of these regulatory changes even before they become effective. Technological advances, thanks to which I can take part in meetings, participate in decision-making, as well as follow the course of the different changes, once they are published for public knowledge.   

What is a cause, business related or otherwise, that you care about, and why? 

In general, a cause that has always worried me is the low levels of education and training that affect our country (which is not a new issue). However, despite the passage of time and the involvement of different political officials in the government, there have been no significant signs of progress. In this sense, since education is the basis of everything, these low levels translate, in many cases, to dropouts or deficient professionals, which in turn translates into difficulties in accessing opportunities, entering the labour market or entrepreneurship (which in turn means that we have a significant number of people who need the State), or in security matters to combat crime. In the end, the lack of education permeates all sectors of the country, and we see its symptoms reflected in traffic, in the economy, in citizen security, and in our daily lives.