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

To take just a few, my team advised Sura in the divestiture of its annuities business. Sura owned one of the four annuities’ firms in Mexico with $574m of assets under management. However, a few years ago, regulations introduced adverse measures that brought certain risks for the sustainability of business. Thus, Sura decided to sell it to a local competitor. Given the complexity of the regulatory framework, the investment regime and the size of the market, the transaction took almost three years until closing in 2020.

We also provided legal and regulatory advice to Afore Sura in order to make well-informed investment decisions in private equity. The legal team works together with the investment and financial market risk teams in the analysis of local and foreign PE investment projects. We are part of a multidisciplinary regional team in charge of identifying and developing best practices that aim for the maturity of the investment process in this asset.

My team helps Sura implement measures to help its operations are in full compliance with applicable rules and regulations, in line with best corporate practices. Our parent company in Colombia (Grupo de Inversiones Suramericana) makes part of the Dow Jones Index; thus, our corporate governance standards are high and strict all over the region. Not only for its mandatory according to regulation, but also because Sura is strongly committed with good corporate principles. This means we see good governance as crucial for the sustainability of our business and our communities, for the benefit of all our stakeholders.

Which recent political, economic or regulatory changes have impacted the company and the team the most?

The changes in the political view of the current government have strongly impacted the legal and regulatory framework of the company. Applicable law and regulation have introduced a pricing control regime to one of the company’s businesses challenging its strategy, limiting competition in the industry with a significant impact on the financial outcome. The political climate for the retirement systems in Latin America brought many challenges to our biggest business in Mexico and for the team. We work together with business in re-inventing the firm and enhance customer experience.

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?

Digital transformation is a main goal for us. As a company, we consistently work in identifying ways to enhance customer experience and become a more attractive asset manager in the local market. We invest in state-of-the art technology to support our operation and offer our products and services. My team provides legal advice to businesses along with the IT and Innovation teams to accomplish our goals. Thus, the legal department is LegalTech oriented. We are consistently training not only in the legal traditional discipline, but also in tech disciplines in line with the trends and current needs in the financial industry worldwide.