Team size: Four

What are the most significant cases or transactions you and your team have been involved in?

In addition to managing all matters related to trademarks, domain names, copyright, trade secrets, and patents for the BBVA group worldwide – we have developed an in-depth legal knowledge of new technologies such as blockchain, AI, and machine learning. Concerning more traditional aspects of IP, our legal team supports the protection of BBVA’s intangible assets, contractual relationships, and IP-related matters with partners, providers, and joint ventures. All those legal duties require a close alignment with our stakeholders and a deep understanding of their changing activities, and the need to develop a pragmatic approach to pre-emptive legal counselling. Our internal client is our priority, and we must be agile, clear, and decisive when solving their problems. We also need to find innovative ways of carrying out tasks and testing new ideas. The bank’s objectives are our own, and we do everything to achieve them – we are passionate and enthusiastic about our job.

In what ways do you see the in-house legal role evolving in your region over the next few years?

The role of the internal counsel will increasingly be rooted around their ability to understand where the pitfalls in the organisation are; identify where legal assistance is needed, regardless of the nature of the matter (IP, data, compliance, digital environment, new technologies, competition, regulatory) and having the tenacity and the ability to communicate and explain to the stakeholders within the organisation.

In a changing financial landscape, how does the company remain competitive against new phenomena such as fintech and blockchain, and how does the legal team assist with this?

Internal lawyers need to speak the language of technicians and engineers, working with their methodologies and playing a pivotal role from the very beginning in protecting the innovative technology products in accordance with laws on IP rights, patents, trademarks, and data protection.