Having worked in-house for over 30 years, Santiago Sainz de Baranda y Casado is widely praised by peers as demonstrated by the quantity and quality of positive testimonials provided by nominators during this year’s research. Since 2004 he has worked at Grupo Urbaser, a world leader in environmental management that serves more than 50 million people in 21 countries, and he ‘is one of Spain’s leading lawyers in matters pertaining to the complex sectors of infrastructures, energy and the environment’, according to one nominator.

Recent major transactions he has worked on at Urbaser include the structured project finance of the company’s Gipuzkoa plant for €191m, the restructuring and refinance of Urbaser´s syndicated loan for €600m and agreeing a loan with the European Investment Bank for €80m. Peers will not have been surprised by his high-level contribution on these successful matters: ‘[Sainz de Baranda y Casado] is a well-known expert in corporate and finance matters, in particular in project finance in the infrastructure sector, with good knowledge of corporate law, procurement and financing structures and international projects. He is known for his commercial, practical approach to transactions’, says another nominating source. He also played a key role in coordinating the defence against Spain’s competition regulator’s (CNMC) sanction proceeding on an alleged cartel in the sector amounting to €23m. Another nominator was quick to praise Sainz de Baranda y Casado in this field too: ‘He is very constant and takes clever decisions which make a better defence for the litigation affairs’. He is also responsible for the creation, building and working on the growth of the corporate legal area with a specialist and qualified lawyers team, which has led to a cut in outsourced services and has improved engagement between his team and the company´s business, working hand in hand with the managers of the group, and for this reason a direct involvement in the management policy.

Full of praise, one of Sainz de Baranda y Casado’s many nominators had the following to say about him: ‘[He] has an extensive experience in dealing with all sort of matters related to corporate and environmental law, particularly in the field of waste legislation, and waste management and treatment. He has great skills to understand, drive and conclude contract negotiations with success. He is also currently participating as member of the board of directors of several waste management and treatment companies belonging to Urbaser, thus having a detailed insight into the key aspects of this business’.