Team size: 16

LATAM countries your role covers: Mexico, Chile, Uruguay, Paraguay, Colombia, Costa Rica and Panamá

Could you please share the most significant cases or transactions in the LATAM region that you or your legal team have recently been involved in?

Grupo Azvi’s Legal Department has been and is involved in important public works railway projects in Mexico. It also provides advice on airport concession projects in which Grupo Azvi participates in Chile. Likewise, it provides advice in an important railway logistics project in Uruguay. The advice has included aspects as diverse as construction contracts, agreements with project partners and project financing documents.

What strategies do you employ to ensure your legal advice is effectively aligned with the unique regulatory environments and cultural nuances of different LATAM countries?

In countries where the size of the projects allows for a local structure, we rely on our own local in-house lawyers. In other countries, we rely on expert local firms that we carefully select on the basis of references and benchmarking.

What are your organisations plans in the LATAM region over the next 12 months and how will your legal expertise help to achieve these plans?

Grupo Azvi’s objective in LATAM is to consolidate its position as a specialised group of companies that provide high added value to its clients in complex technical projects. The Legal Department tries to accompany and even anticipate the legal support needs of areas such as Business Development or the Tenders Department, in order to contribute to the growth strategy from a risk detection and prevention or mitigation perspective.

What specific challenges have you encountered when managing legal issues related to Latin American markets from a European perspective, and how has your team addressed these challenges?

The existence of similarities or the supposed familiarity of the legal systems of LATAM countries with respect to that of Spain, together with the common language, may lead to an erroneous interpretation (by false analogy) of the legal reality of the country in question. It is therefore necessary to keep one’s guard up, using specialised local advice to ensure that all risks are adequately identified and covered within reason according to the organisation’s risk policy.