Headquartered in Spain, Banco Sabadell opened its first representative office in Mexico in 1991. The bank continues to develop its business in Mexico, with the launch of its retail banking division in January 2018. Overseeing some of the bank’s most recent developments in Mexico from a legal standpoint is the talented legal director, Luis Alberto Cárdenas Díaz. He assisted with the incorporation of the company in 2015 and helped to implement all regulatory and contractual aspects required to fully operate as a banking institution in Mexico. He joined as legal director in 2015, and as part of an internal restructuring process and by virtue of Banco Sabadell’s rapid growth, became head of corporate and commercial legal affairs in 2017.

Described as a ‘driving force’ within the bank, Cárdenas has been integral to the company’s journey in its critical formative years: ‘This past three years in Sabadell have proven to have a real impact in the financial market in Mexico. Three years ago, Sabadell was a relatively small non-banking financial entity, today we are one of the most important banking actors in the lending sector, with a presence in the whole country’, explains Cárdenas.

His ability to select a team to accommodate this monumental growth has been a key feature of his role as legal director. In fact he cites that having the opportunity to set up the legal department with ‘highly efficient and talented’ individuals at SabCapital (the non-banking financial entity that preceded the incorporation of Banco Sabadell in Mexico) and later at Banco Sabadell has been a highlight of his career and something that has been noticed by all that work with him: ‘In addition to considering Luis an excellent lawyer, we’ve come to know him as a good person deeply caring of his staff, who as the legal team of a new bank, have been under great pressure to position Banco Sabadell in the competitive Mexican market while performing with standards of care and diligence’, reveals a nominator. One of the transactions he’s led his team through include the syndication of the “Fermaca La Laguna” and “Fermaca Occidente” gas pipelines credit facility, with the combined loan amount of more than US$800m.

Prior to this transaction he participated in the syndication of the credit facility for the construction of a new airport in Mexico City, which was worth more than US$3bn. With such achievements under his belt it is not surprising he earned a very strong reputation among his peers. Cárdenas previously served as senior legal counsel at HSBC México, where he was part of the team in charge, and that won, some of the most important litigation procedures for that entity. Recently, he was recognised as one of the “30 under 30 years old” leaders in Mexico, by the renowned Mexican magazine “Expansión”.