What are the most significant cases or transactions that your legal team has recently been involved in?

My legal team and I have been involved in an essential reverse merger operation. It has consisted of the most important subsidiary company of the economic group in Peru absorbing the controlling shareholder company by merger. The operation was carried out in various steps throughout 2021 and was duly revealed to the market. Because of the condition of a public company absorbing entity, it was subject to the applicable stock market regulations, which introduced legal complexities that we had to resolve in time and form. The operation was based on the premise that the participation of the company’s minority shareholders should not be modified, with the aim that the benefits resulting from the merger reach all the company’s shareholders.

How do you feel the pandemic has changed the world of work for in-house counsel and the function of the general counsel?

In my opinion, there is a before and after the pandemic. We were permanently challenged by unprecedented situations, working from home, exceeding daily limits, amplified restrictions, and the need to continue operating and protect our businesses with teeth and nails. In this scenario, the digital transformation of our businesses became mandatory, the decisions regarding digitisation could not wait, the transformation was the only way to move forward, and the change in the pandemic was enhanced more than ever before. In this emergency context, the general counsel position assumed a leading role in facilitating business decisions and transformation, going to the forefront, anticipating the needs of our stakeholders, and being partners in change.

What are some of the key developments – legal, geopolitical or otherwise – that have affected your business over the past year?

In general, businesses are seriously impacted by having to deal with high doses of uncertainty due to the little or no predictability of those who administer justice, low generalised institutionalism, absence of regulatory impact analysis when it comes to regulating, and corruption. It is not possible to pursue sustainable development if we do nothing to solve these matters first.