General counsel and institutional affairs director | Ternium Mexico
A highly flexible general counsel, who recognises and cherishes change, Adrian Estrada has been leading the efforts of the legal and investor relations team of the largest steel conglomerate in...
Legal and government affairs director | Lexmark International de México
Since 1998 Adriana Servin Villada has built up expertise in company law, M&A and contract negotiations and litigation at some of the top technology firms operating in Mexico. After almost...
General counsel for Mexico and southern cone | Bank of America México and Merrill Lynch México
Alejandro Athie developed a deep interest in banking and securities law when studying at law school, and after going on to work at a number of law firms joined the...
General counsel and secretary of the board | Grupo Gasoductos de Chihuahua
Alejandro Becker Ania has over 25 years’ experience in the Mexican legal industry. After a successful spell at law firm Guerra González y Asociados, he spent six years at entertainment...
General counsel | America Movil
Since 2001, Alejandro Cantú Jiménez has served as general counsel for America Movil, Latin America´s largest wireless company and, in terms of equity subscribers the third largest wireless provider in...
General counsel | Banamex
Having worked in top in-house positions since 1995, Alejandro de Iturbide was nominated for having ‘great experience in the financial sector and a long trajectory as in-house counsel’. Between 1995...
Legal director | AT&T Mexico
A globally educated lawyer with degrees from both Autonomous Technological Institute of Mexico and Boston University, Alejandro Giordano has a natural talent for finding innovative solutions to complex and challenging...
General secretary and general counsel | MAPFRE
Nominated for his work as secretary general and general counsel of one the most important insurance companies in Mexico, MAPFRE, Alfredo Bonifaz Molina also gained a wealth of experience during...
General counsel | Grupo Stiva
Alma Maria Rodriguez Flores has gained comprehensive expertise in negotiations, compliance and commercial real estate during in a number of in-house roles since leaving Deloitte’s legal tax department in 2004....
General counsel | Linio México
Alonso Acebes Sevilla began his legal career in 1994 as a law clerk working on litigations in mercantile law suits for law practice Asesoría Jurídica. After two years there and...
Vice president, general counsel Latin America | Prudential Real Estate Investors Latin America
Alvaro Vertiz has demonstrated expert legal skill in corporate finance and real estate in a short space of time. His career began in 2002 at one of the largest professional...
Legal area director, North Latin America division | Arcos Dorados
Anabell González Nava began working for fast food chain giant, McDonald’s Corporation, in 2005 as general counsel for central and Latin America. Whilst many directors were removed, González Nava retained...
General counsel and compliance officer | Centro Internacional de Mejoramiento De Maíz y Trigo (CIMMYT)
Andrés Alvarez Cordero gained solid experience of working in-house for public bodies when he joined the Mexican government as the Undersecretary for International Trade Negotiations in 1995. Working on negotiations...
General counsel, Mexico and the Caribbean | Unilever
Ángel de León Zamora’s current role as general counsel for the Mexico and Caribbean region represents a culmination of over 20 years of hands-on professional experience of providing high quality...
Regulatory executive director and senior compliance leader | AT&T
Before moving in-house, Antonio Garza worked in both law firms and the public sector. He began his career at the Internal Ministry of Foreign Affairs participating in negotiations including the...
General counsel | Sofoplus
Antonio Jáuregui embodies over 30 years of working in top legal positions at large Mexican companies. Between 2000 and 2005 he served as general counsel and legal director for Aeroméxico,...
Corporate CEO | Grupo FRISA
Armando Ascencio Pérez joined the shopping centre division team of FRISA, the family-owned real estate and construction company, as chief legal counsel in 1993. A year later, following the Mexican...
Deputy general counsel | Grupo Televisa
Joining Latin America’s largest mass multimedia company, Grupo Televisa, as general counsel for their newly launched internet company, Armando Martinez was asked to lead the group’s digital and internet legal...
Regional legal manager | Pernod Ricard Americas
Beatriz Munozcano is Regional Legal Manager of one of Mexico’s most important beverages and spirits companies operating in North and South America, Pernod Ricard Americas. Munozcano spent five years at...
General counsel and secretary of the board of directors | Impulsora del Desarrollo y el Empleo (IDEAL)
Since his final year at university, Carlos Facha Lara has worked within Grupo Carso, a global conglomerate based in Mexico with a revenue of over $5bn and companies in a...
Vice president - legal, finance and fleet | Aeroméxico
A specialist aviation lawyer, Carlos Hassey Artigas has accumulated experience which is multifaceted in nature as it includes regulatory, commercial, tax, and liability issues. His legal career began as an...
Head of legal | Fresnillo
Since his career began in 1992, Carlos Ortiz Mena has worked in the legal teams of a number of top companies. He has been director of international legal affairs at...
President, general manager and legal director - Mexico, Central America and Caribbean | DuPont México
Claudia Jañez’s legal career spans over 20 years, during which she has worked for the some of the region’s largest companies. After two and half years at law firm Bufete...
General counsel | Abilia
Claudia Rosso Rizo’s career has combined private practice with two in-house positions that has given her experience of the highest levels of the Mexican real estate sector. Rosso Rizo joined...
Legal director and transactions corporate counsel | Kellogg Company Latin America
After almost three years at Phillip Morris International, Cristian Colin joined world leading cereal producer Kellogg Company in 2005. Having held a number of positions, Colin has worked his way...
General counsel (Latin America) | Macquarie Infrastructure and Real Assets (MIRA)
General counsel (Latin America) at Macquarie Infrastructure and Real Assets (MIRA), David Handelsmann is branded an ‘experienced and extremely capable attorney.’ In an active past 18 months, Handelsmann has been...
General counsel and corporate affairs officer | Jugos del Valle
Diego Valdes moved in-house in 2012 after 11 years at some of Mexico’s top law firms including Galicia y Robles, Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher and Galicia Abogados. He gained international...
Legal affairs director and head of compliance - Mexico and South America | Ford de México
Diego Valdovinos moved in-house to join Ford de México in 2010 after working for one of Latin America’s largest law firms Basham, Ringe y Correa. Since joining the global automotive...
General counsel | Hoteles City Express
Before starting her in-house career, Dina Moreno worked at law firm Creel, García-Cuéllar, Aiza y Enríquez between 2000 and 2010. In addition to building expertise in corporate law, joint ventures...
Head of legal and corporate affairs | Japan Tobacco International (JTI) México
Before joining Japan Tobacco International (JTI), a Fortune 500 company and the world’s third largest tobacco company, Edgar Martinez served as an associate at Goodrich, Riquelme y Asociados for seven...
Legal manager Mexico, the Caribbean and Central America | Nokia
Before joining worldwide telecommunications company Alcatel-Lucent, Elizabeth Chicuellar Casillas’ legal career was spent at other leading companies in the sector such as Motorola and Telefónica Moviles México, acquiring strong negotiation...
General counsel | Un Kilo de Ayuda
Having gained significant experience in litigation and corporate law, at law firms between 1996 and 2003, Erika Favela Mena joined Fundacion Teleton México, the country’s most important civil organisation that...
General counsel | Axtel
Prior to moving to Axtel, Federico Gil worked in-house at real estate company, Grupo Internacional de Inversiones. Gil also has public sector experience, having been a legal advisor for Nuevo...
General counsel and government affairs director (Mexico, Central America and the Caribbean) | Nokia
Federico Vergara originally joined Alcatel-Lucent México, a global telecommunications company in 1996 as a deputy general counsel. Since being appointed as the company’s general counsel for Mexico, Central America and...
Head legal counsel and compliance officer | Grupo Consupago
Gabriela Hernández Morgan has worked in Mexico’s banking sector for over 20 years. As one source says, ‘Gaby is a very thorough person and of very high integrity. In my...
Vice president and general counsel | AT&T
As vice president and general counsel of AT&T, a telecoms company with a global revenue of $146bn, George Troy Hatch has facilitated some of the industry’s biggest deals, making the...
General counsel and head of compliance | Laureate International Universities
Fluent in Spanish, English and French, Gerardo Fonseca is recognised for his expertise in M&A, corporate law, negotiations and financial law. After three years at law firm Diez Gargari, Fonseca...
Assistant general counsel | Kansas City Southern de México (KCSM)
Gerardo Iñigo Heras began his legal career at Mexico’s former Federal Competition Commission between 1998 and 2000. After this he spent four years at law firm Baker & McKenzie where...
General counsel | HSBC México
Known as an expert in the banking sector, Gonzalo Mendez served as general counsel to financial services company ING from 1995 until 2009. During this period Mendez worked on the...
International trademark counsel | The Coca-Cola Company
Gonzalo Ruiz San Sebastián has worked at the world’s largest beverage manufacturer, The Coca-Cola Company, for over 18 years in progressive roles of increasing responsibility. He has gained a vast...
Legal director | Banamex
Guillermo Garcia San Pedro initially joined Banamex, Mexico’s second largest domestic bank, in 2002. As head of the regulatory and government affairs area, he was the bank’s liaison to the...
Deputy general counsel | Peñoles
Having worked at prestigious law firms such as Mayer Brown, Jauregui, Navarrete y Nader, SC (now Nader, Hayaux & Goebel) and Baker & Mackenzie, Gustavo Alarcon took his expertise and...
Vice president and general counsel | FINSA
Recognised by peers as ‘one of the most talented lawyers in Monterrey’, Hans Hutterer joined FINSA, the real estate developer, in 2002. He was promoted to general counsel in 2004...
General counsel, secretary of the board and managing director - legal affairs | Grupo Financiero Banorte
Héctor Ávila Flores had already worked in the financial sector for over 10 years before assuming his position as general counsel and secretary of the board at Grupo Financiero Banorte,...
Deputy general counsel | Innophos
Héctor Serrano has over 30 years of in-house experience of working for Mexico’s largest multinational corporations. As Latin America and Caribbean general counsel for global information technology company Unisys, between...
General counsel and operations head | Grupo Acosta Verde
Hernán Treviño de Vega moved in-house following successful spells at law firms Jauregui Navarrete, Nader y Rojas and Quintanilla y Asociados. Following this he spent three years as general counsel...
General counsel | General Motors de Mexico
Joining General Motors de México in 1995, Iliana Martinez has occupied several positions within the legal department and was appointed general counsel in 2004, later assuming responsibility for Central America...
General counsel | 3M México
After four and half years at global law firm Baker & McKenzie as an associate, Isabelle Girard moved in-house joining leading pharmaceutical company Pfizer in 2003. In her eight years...
Director, head of legal, Latin America and Brazil | Takeda
Isolda Llorente’s legal career began in 2003 at top Mexican law firm Ritch Mueller, subsequently moving in-house to work at Nokia, Schering-Plough and Reckitt Benckiser between 2005 and 2010. After...
Legal corporate director and general counsel | Monex Grupo Financiero
Jacobo Martínez Flores has operated in financial institutions for 25 years, working for Finamex Casa de Bolsa between 1991 and 2003 and then joining his current employers, Monex Grupo Financiero...
Director, international compliance and business development Latin America | Grainger
Since 1990 Jaime Blanco has held top legal positions at institutions including global imaging company Kodak and Fortune 250 chemical company Praxair, where he helped with a restructuring of the...
General counsel | Grupo Kaluz
After a successful spell as legal manager Javier García García was promoted to the position of general counsel of Grupo Kaluz, a venture capital and private equity company, directly reporting...
General counsel | KUA MEX FOODS
Javier Labrador moved in-house after almost eight years working at a number of law firms. His career began as an associate in 1999 at law firm Ritch, Mueller, Heather y...
General counsel and head of compliance | AXA Seguros México
According to one source, Javier Oroz Coppel is an ‘outstanding candidate for the GC Powerlist’. Before joining multinational insurance company, AXA, Oroz Coppel worked in the Mexican subsidiary of Dutch...
Mexico managing regional counsel | Delphi
Jennifer Martinez worked for external legal providers including serving as manager of Deloitte’s legal corporate practice for five years, before joining Delphi, a global supplier of technology for automobiles with...
Vice president legal and general counsel | Grupo Televisa
Joaquin Balcarcel joined Grupo Televisa, the largest media company in the Spanish-speaking world with a revenue of $5.3bn, in 1999 as a corporate legal director working predominantly on M&A negotiations....
Assistant general counsel and senior legal director (Mexico) | Microsoft Corporation
Jorge Vega Iracelay was an associate professor for 10 years specialising in commercial, corporate and contract law at the Pontificia Universidad Católica Argentina before moving in-house to GDF SUEZ –...
General Counsel, México and Costa Rica | Tyco
Jose Gabriel Sotelo Rios is in charge of Tyco’s Mexican and Costa Rican legal function. In this role, he holds responsibility for the legal work of all entities of the...
Legal, governance, compliance and government affairs director | Navistar Mexico
Jose Lechuga has held in-house legal positions in a number of companies since 2000. He began his in-house career as a contracts attorney at Carrier, the world leader in high-technology...
General counsel | Asociación de Bancos de México (ABM)
The Asociación de Bancos de México (ABM) was founded in 1928 with the sole purpose of representing the general interests of banks and serving as the leadership body of the...
General counsel | Siemens Mesoamérica
Beginning his legal career in 1991, Juan Carlos Maroto is a ‘transnational lawyer with extensive international experience’. Having spent the majority of his legal career as an external lawyer, Maroto...
Global business executive legal director | Grupo Financiero Santander México
Juan Llanos has gained significant experience in the financial sector having worked in various companies in the industry since 1991. Previously at Grupo Financiero Ve por Más and Grupo Financiero...
Managing director and general counsel | Nexxus Capital
Having worked at law firm White & Case on finance, accounting and M&A for a total of eight years, Juan Pablo Visoso Lomelín, was invited to join Nexxus Capital, one...
Legal Director, Advisory Counsel | AXA Seguros México
Karla Acosta has over 20 years of in-house experience in the financial services industry. She began her career at Casa de Bolsa Arka (now part of Grupo Financiero Ve por...
Regional legal and compliance head - Latin America and Canada | Novartis México
Leticia León Gonzalez began building the legal department of Sandoz de México in 1990 and soon became the legal head of the entire group containing 11 companies in diverse sectors....
General corporate counsel | Grupo ADO
Ligia González Lozano spent almost nine years at law firms and one year as president at Academia Mexicana de Derecho Internacional Privado y Comparado, before joining global technology company IBM...
Legal corporate manager and secretary of the board | Grupo Simec
Lourdes Ivonne Massimi Malo began working for Grupo Simec, considered the largest producer of specialty steel in North America, in 1994. She has served as legal corporate manager since 1999...
General counsel and compliance officer - Mexico and Latin America | Continental
‘Extraordinary with personal relations’, Luis Enríquez de Rivera Morales was nominated for ‘his ability to look at the big picture in very complex cases; the fact that he seeks different...
General counsel, institutional relations manager and compliance officer | Toyota Motor Sales de México
Before moving in-house, Luis Lozano worked at law firms for over 10 years, including six years at Baker & McKenzie. He was initially hired by automobile company Toyota Motor Sales...
Chief operations officer | Daimler Financial Services México
After two years in Volvo Financial Services’ corporate and litigation department, Marcos Czacki joined Daimler Financial Services México in 2002. Czacki has risen through the ranks since joining the financial...
General counsel | Eutelsat Americas
Having spent most of her career in the telecommunications industry, including nearly 13 years as deputy legal director of Telefónica México, Mariana Páez Robles Martínez assumed the general counsel position...
General counsel - Hispano American zone | L'Oréal
With more than a decade of professional experience, Marisol Gonzalez Ortega Roque is an accomplished attorney with particular focus on corporate law. Ortega Roque, became the general counsel for the...
General counsel | Grupo México
Before moving in-house, Mauricio Ibañez founded and served as managing partner for law firm Ibañez Schriever & Hoffmann after spending a decade in some of Mexico’s most renowned firms. Spending...
Legal affairs director | Pfizer México
Maurin Pérez de León is an accomplished healthcare and pharmaceutical in-house lawyer having served in some of the largest companies in the industry. Between 2005 and 2011 she was legal...
General counsel | Barclays Bank México
Mónica Andapia has had a highly successful career with a distinct focus on financial services, managing the legal processes of some of the largest international banks in Mexico. Her first...
Director and associate general counsel | The Home Depot
Having held numerous in-house positions at companies such as Internacional de Inversiones, GRUMA, Virginia Tech and Global Payments, Mónica Bichara joined The Home Depot in 2002 shortly after it entered...
Chief counsel and compliance officer Mexico | Mondelēz International
A reliable professional with over two decades of professional in-house experience in the public and private sectors, Monica Soto Perez has consistently demonstrated knowledge of complex legal issues, as well...
General counsel Latin America and chief compliance officer | Intellego
Omar Ruiz Mena’s in-house career began in 1994 at global information technology company Unisys de México where in three years as legal affairs director he negotiated major agreements of outsourcing...
General counsel | Cinépolis
After working at law firm Galicia y Robles (today Galicia Abogados) from 2004 to 2010, Pablo Aguilar Albo decided to move his career in-house and joined Cinépolis, the Mexican chain...
Vice president legal and corporate affairs | Grupo Modelo
Having worked at law firms for almost 14 years, including nine years at Galicia Abogados, Pablo Jiménez Zorrilla built up a wealth of corporate and commercial law experience. He moved...
Head of legal and compliance | Deutsche Bank México
Since 1999 Paola Piotti has accumulated substantial in-house experience within the financial services sector, having worked in the legal departments of some the sector’s biggest players such as Citibank, BNY...
Vice president - legal and compliance (Latin America) | Sura Asset Management
Pedro Pesqueira is an established Mexican in-house lawyer, having served as general counsel at Sun Microsystems of Canada for six years before joining global financial services company ING in 2005...
Deputy general counsel retail banking, wealth management and insurance, and legal regional head for global private banking - LATAM | HSBC México
In 2010, Rafael Llamas moved in-house to HSBC México after having worked for almost seven years for law firms; four of which were for Jáuregui, Navarrete y Nader. Since joining...
Director of legal - business division | Banco del Bajío
Rafael Romo Aguiñaga’s first years in the legal profession were spent in the public sector, having worked as director of the legal municipality of Guanajuato between 1995 and 1997, and...
Executive vice president legal and secretary of the board | Cemex
Ramiro Villarreal has amassed a wealth of experience since graduating with honours in 1968. He joined Cemex in 1987 as general counsel and in 2012 was appointed as secretary to...
Legal director, ethics officer and corporate secretary Mexico | Engie
Raul Felix Saul worked at global law firm Baker & McKenzie for almost 10 years before moving in-house. His time at the firm included serving as a partner and climate...
General counsel Mexico and Central America | Assurant Solutions
With a strong client and customer focus, Raúl Hernández Ojeda has worked on corporate financial matters for both law firms and in-house. In his current position as general counsel for...
General counsel | Gerdau Corsa México
In 20 years, Rebeca Orozco Garcia has accumulated a wealth of experience after having worked in a number of top legal positions. Between 1996 and 1998 Orozco Garcia served as...
Vice president and general counsel | IEnova
With an in-house career that began in 1989, René Buentello Carbonell is vastly experienced in the natural resources sector. His first 13 years were spent in the industrial division of...
Director of institutional relations and legal affairs | Farmacias del Ahorro
Well recognised for his ‘ability to innovate in and adapt to different sectors’, Roberto Andrade Martínez has held top legal positions at ExxonMobil México, Panasonic de México and Telefonica Moviles...
Regional general counsel and institutional relations director Latin America | Owens Corning
Rodrigo Montemayor is a general counsel with broad expertise in leading the legal function of global, Fortune 500 companies doing business in Latin America. Prior to moving in-house Montemayor worked...
Legal director | ThyssenKrupp Industrial Solutions (México)
During his seven year tenure as legal director at ThyssenKrupp Industrial Solutions (México) and senior legal counsel for the group’s global legal area, Rodrigo Pérez Elizundia has devised initiatives to...
Managing director, general counsel and compliance officer | Evercore México
Before joining investment bank Evercore México, Sylvia Martínez worked at Grupo Iusacell and also served at JPMorgan as vice president of the trust division. Since 2005 she has served as...
Vice president and general counsel, Latin America | Honeywell International
Valeria Chapa is noted for being an ‘outstanding lawyer’ and a ‘true leader with impressive accomplishments’. Following her graduation, Chapa joined international law firm Baker & McKenzie, becoming a partner...
Latin America legal director and compliance officer | Philips Lighting
An alumnus of Panamerican University, Victor Alcantar recently joined Philips Lighting in Mexico City to lead the legal department. Alcantar’s previous career spans 15 years and covers the consumer goods...
For 29 years, The Legal 500 has been analysing the capabilities of law firms across the world. The GC Powerlist is the latest publication from The Legal 500, turning its attention to the in-house function, and recognising those corporate counsel who are driving the legal business forward. The latest edition is the GC Powerlist: Mexico, which identifies an array of the most influential and innovative in-house counsel working in those two jurisdictions.
We have canvassed opinions from law firm partners and in-house counsel across Mexico, to identify corporate counsel that have been instrumental in changing or forming opinions within their company or industry; developing brilliant technical solutions to complex issues; creating innovative structures to ensure that the in-house function is driving the business forward; or providing a business working model that other corporate counsel should follow. Our team of experienced researchers assessed the nominations, speaking both to general counsel and nominating lawyers to finalise each list. GC Powerlist: Mexico features not just information on why that individual has made the list, but also comment from those in-house lawyers about how they have helped shape innovation in the legal industry.
If you have feedback on the GC Powerlist: Mexico, or wish to nominate other in-house individuals (either in Mexico or global), please do get in touch at [email protected].
We hope that this listing will stimulate debate around the role of the in-house lawyer and help corporate counsel with possible improvements and efficiencies in running their departments.
Creel, García-Cuéllar, Aiza y Enriquez is honored to sponsor The Legal 500 GC Powerlist: Mexico. Participating in a gathering of Mexico’s most important, influential and visionary general counsels, representing many and varied companies across multiple industries and sectors, is quite unique, and a great opportunity to exchange views about the challenges facing us, and prospects for the legal marketplace and Mexico at large.
We are meeting at a time when the world, and Mexico is certainly no exception, faces vast challenges and perils, but at the same time great prospects for development and a better future.
When compared to most countries, particularly emerging economies, relatively speaking Mexico presents itself as an open and stable economy with low inflation, sustained GDP growth (albeit modest), an expanding middle-class and internal consumer market, a growing manufacturing base and exports and relatively sound public sector finances. These fundamentals, coupled with the early stages of the implementation of a profound set of structural economic reforms focused on fostering competition, and reshaping key sectors such as energy and telecommunications, will in the long term assuredly transform the economy and yield prosperity. By most metrics, Mexico’s pro forma and prospects are quite encouraging.
With this backdrop, the legal community has confronted diverse challenges, and is itself undergoing a transformation towards modernization and globalization. With the advent of information and technology, the types of services demanded by consumers of legal services, and the high standard in which such services must be offered have significantly changed over the last several decades, and the trend is certain to continue in the future. The ever increasing complexity of legal frameworks governing various activities, and the sophistication of the capital markets and business transactions generally, as well as the emergence and development of new industries in Mexico, such as oil and gas, have forced the legal profession to steadfastly grow and learn new areas of the law, and changed the way lawyers and law firms relate to clients and counterparties. At Creel, García-Cuéllar, Aiza y Enriquez we find these times to be most energizing and transformational. We have been forced not only to adapt to increasing competition by local and international service providers, which we welcome, but to also look within in order to align our strategy and vision with that of our clients, and to focus on offering them a shared interest and a value and trust based relationship. Simply put, evolution.
Despite what we consider to be a positive moment in the legal marketplace, we are certain few participants in the GC Powerlist would disagree that one of the greatest challenges confronting the legal profession in Mexico has to do to with one of the most basic components of any society – the rule of law. For decades, deficient rule of law and corruption have plagued our country, severely burdening further development and shared prosperity for all in Mexico. Notwithstanding the many positive developments in Mexico’s substantive laws, as a country we continue to suffer from vast corruption and a deficient and ill-prepared justice system. On this issue, by definition no group has a greater responsibility to change the status quo and contribute to change than the legal profession.
With this in mind, we invite all of you to use this The Legal 500 GC Powerlist summit, as a venue to discuss how we can all focus and coordinate efforts in a quest towards the development of a better and more transparent and equitable justice system, and towards the eradication of corruption. By making the rule of law a shared and foremost goal of the legal profession, and a cornerstone of Mexico’s development, what is already a promising future for the country will improve exponentially.
As our annual legal gathering, the GC Summit Argentina 2025, continues to grow, it now encompasses the most up-to-date legal challenges faced by in-house counsel. All the sessions offered a dynamic and thought-provoking exploration of the country’s evolving business environment. From labour law to corporate deregulation and the evolving role of legal leadership, panellists delivered valuable insights that painted a comprehensive picture of the challenges and opportunities facing professionals in Argentina today.
In the first session, sponsored by Deloitte, panellists delved into the complexities of Argentina’s labour law landscape, focusing on pressing challenges and strategic planning. The discussion began with a reflection on the country’s pending labour reforms, many of which are seen as crucial to modernising employment regulations and reducing the administrative burden on companies. One of the key themes was the high financial cost of employment in Argentina, driven by rigid regulation, social security contributions, and the influence of powerful trade unions. The panellists discussed how economic instability and high interest rates have further complicated labour litigation, leading to increased exposure for employers.
The conversation moved to dispute mitigation strategies, with practical examples of how companies are navigating contentious employment environments. The speakers also highlighted the significant implications of mergers and acquisitions, particularly the challenges of integrating workforces while maintaining compliance with complex regulatory frameworks. In an increasingly globalised economy, cross-border employment considerations—ranging from legal to cultural—were also explored. This included issues around remote work, tax obligations, and varying employment standards across jurisdictions. The panel concluded by urging companies to adopt more agile and preventative legal strategies to better manage risk and cost in this demanding environment.
Led by Gastón Miani and Leonel Zanotto, Tavarone’s session focused on the intricacies of Argentina’s tax system in the context of its volatile economic environment. A major point of discussion was the tax inflation adjustment mechanism, which has become essential for accurately reflecting economic realities and preventing distorted tax liabilities. The speakers examined the evolving legal interpretations surrounding loss carryforwards and updates, noting how these can significantly affect corporate tax planning and financial forecasting.
Another key issue was the growing concern around gross income tax credit balances, which many businesses are struggling to reconcile due to inconsistent administrative responses and a lack of clarity around refund procedures. The PAIS tax reimbursement process was also scrutinised, particularly in light of increased foreign exchange restrictions and the bureaucratic hurdles that companies must overcome to claim refunds.
The panel offered a comprehensive look at recent legislative developments and court rulings, highlighting the increasing importance of litigation in shaping tax policy. Overall, the session underscored the urgent need for clarity, consistency, and reform in the tax system to foster a more predictable environment for businesses.
Following a brief coffee break, PAGBAM’s panel discussed the impact of Argentina’s sweeping deregulatory reforms, particularly under Decree 70/2023. These reforms, which aim to eliminate bureaucratic inefficiencies and modernise economic governance, have significant implications for corporate lawyers.
The speakers noted that with the dismantling of cumbersome regulatory processes, legal departments are increasingly freed from routine compliance tasks and are able to focus on strategic matters. M&A activity, corporate structuring, and international expansion were highlighted as areas now demanding more attention and proactive legal guidance. The discussion also addressed how anticipated reductions in labour and consumer claims may reshape legal strategies, encouraging lawyers to shift from reactive to forward-looking roles.
General Counsel were encouraged to embrace a more business-oriented mindset, aligning legal work more closely with organisational goals. As regulation continues to evolve, adaptability and strategic foresight will be critical for legal teams navigating this new and less constrained operating environment.
In a compelling fireside chat, Héctor Ferreira of Hughes & Hughes spoke with Margherita Birri, editor of The Legal 500, about Uruguay’s emergence as a regional leader in business and legal stability. Ferreira outlined the country’s political and legal predictability as a major draw for investors, especially in contrast to the volatility in neighbouring countries. He emphasised Uruguay’s strong institutions, transparent legal system, and open economic policies as foundations for sustained growth.
The conversation touched on key sectors such as renewable energy, tech, and agribusiness, where Uruguay is actively fostering innovation and foreign participation. Ferreira also discussed the country’s push for sustainable development, highlighting initiatives that combine economic growth with environmental responsibility. Attendees were left with a strong impression of Uruguay as a safe and attractive jurisdiction for both corporate activity and long-term investment.
Elevating General Counsel as a Strategic Business Partner (5:20pm – 6:05pm)
The final panel of the day focused on the evolving role of the General Counsel. Rodrigo Hermida, Ivana Di Carlo, and Federico Martinez explored how legal leadership is becoming integral to corporate strategy. No longer limited to risk and compliance, GCs are now expected to influence decision-making, shape business direction, and proactively manage legal and reputational risks.
The speakers discussed how the use of data, performance metrics, and cross-departmental collaboration has become essential in elevating the GC’s role. They stressed the importance of effective reporting and communication with leadership, as well as the need to understand the company’s commercial objectives deeply. The panel also acknowledged the impact of digital transformation, which requires legal teams to be agile and tech-savvy. As the business landscape becomes more complex, the General Counsel is increasingly seen not just as a protector of the company, but as a vital contributor to its success.
As per usual, the day concluded with brief closing remarks, followed by a networking session with delicious local drinks and canapés, allowing attendees to reflect on the day’s discussions and connect with peers and experts in a more informal setting. The panels throughout the afternoon provided attendees with a rich and nuanced understanding of the legal and regulatory developments shaping Argentina and its regional neighbours, equipping legal professionals with actionable insights to navigate the path ahead.
