Can you please give us an idea of the sort of work your team has done recently?

Although during the pandemic the growth of the global economy contracted and many of our clients had financial problems maintaining their operating levels and fulfilling their obligations. During the first months of the pandemic, the objective of the entire Bank, where the legal area had an active intervention, was to avoid the past due portfolio, support the structuring of payment deferral agreements and restructure agreements, based on authorised programs by the Mexican financial authorities.

The bank has recovered its level of growth, which has forced us as a legal area to remain active to participate in infrastructure projects, financing for the real estate sector, the agricultural or the commercial sectors. Recently, the administration of our bank has promoted the growth of businesses in the consumer credit sector and the sector of small and medium-sized companies, known as PYMES. The legal area has gotten involved in the analysis of the applicable regulation and the design of contracts and new financial products to strengthen our participation in these sectors.

Looking forward, what technological advancements do you feel will impact the role of in-house legal teams in the future the most?

I think that the pandemic accelerated technological transformation. Many of the changes that would have been seen in years, had to be carried out in a few months. We now have biometric authentication of clients, use of internet banking and mobile devices, electronic wallets, digital signature and other transformations promoted by fintech companies, blockchain technology, cryptocurrencies and open banking, among others, which are generating new business models. Data analysis has become a very important tool in decision-making, but it also imposes a challenge for all legal teams of companies, having to guarantee the protection of personal data. There must be complete coordination between banks and authorities, so that these new technologies can be developed and adopted, within an adequate regulatory framework.

How do you suggest in-house lawyers build strong relationships with business partners?

I think that constant communication and empathy are essential in any relationship with business partners. As a bank’s legal area, our partners are internal, since we interact with executives who directly serve our clients. The legal areas can share their points of view on specialised issues and be able to meet the needs of their business partners. I also believe that empathy allows us to understand that the vision of the banking

business is transversal, since all the risks implicit in an operation must be adequately balanced: legal, credit, market, or operational risks. In this way, we are more willing to evaluate decision-making in a more comprehensive way, considering all the variables that are involved in a banking operation, without neglecting the legal risk.