About

During a varied career that has seen him practice in both law firms and in in-house legal roles, Gonzalo Raffo brings a wealth of experience to the in-house function of Pluspetrol Norte, where he is the most senior lawyer leading the legal function as general counsel in Peru. Attaining in-house legal experience in the financial sector, Raffo has previously held roles at Banco de Crédito del Perú, Santander Investment and the Inter-American Investment Corporation (based in Washington D.C.) before becoming a senior attorney with García Sayán Abogados and his appointment to his current role in late 2010. Summarising his career, Raffo speaks of a number of highlights: ‘In my initial years as an attorney in Banco de Crédito, we negotiated a syndicated loan to finance a local group in the construction of a hotel and office building. Through a creative structuring process, we managed to overcome the lack of clear regulation and mitigated the legal and tax risk derived from it. At Pluspetrol, I participated in the renegotiation of a complex natural gas supply agreement involving more than ten different companies in as many different jurisdictions, and was also involved in an arbitration in which we were able to convince the tribunal of our case and obtain a positive award’. Raffo also explains that he has ‘led the renovation process of the legal team’, which has involved building a team of young, bright lawyers focused on specialisation and growing their experience. He is proud that, as he puts it, ‘Pluspetrol´s current legal team in Peru, although relatively young, is one of the most recognised for its ability to manage complex oil and gas, commercial, environmental and regulatory matters’.