About

With operations in Mexico, Panama, Guatemala, Honduras, Peru and El Salvador, Banco Azteca del Perú has a legal team made up of eight lawyers and two support staff. The country corporate general counsel Alfonso Aguilar leads the legal team which is made up of a legal manager, Manuel Carranza and a chief labour adviser, Fidel Quispe, who are supported by a legal and administrative team composed of ten people – eight lawyers and two administrative workers. ‘The legal team has been recently recognised by the CEO and the chairman of the board for its outstanding work in 2018, having been considered as one of the best areas of support in the company. This recognition helps us to keep our team motivated and renews our commitment of effort and service to achieve excellence in meeting our objectives’, says Aguilar. The team prides itself on its proactive attitude towards the company legal issues, acting as a “preventative” team and not a “reactive” team. To this end the legal team has actively provided specific and constant training to other business units regarding a myriad of legal issues, in order to minimise contingencies and avoid the potential breach of any law. Amongst some of its most significant changes, the legal team has worked towards developing each lawyer into a poly-functional legal professional, saving money for the company and being able to provide more and better advice on different subjects. Some of the most important transactions the team has worked on include the review and renegotiation of the more than 120 lease agreements at premises occupied by the company in Peru. ‘This comprehensive review has made it possible to detect and mitigate legal and commercial risks and also obtain better commercial conditions. The economic benefits generated for the company are around US$9m’, explains Aguilar. Another significant achievement of the team is having participated in the development of a new credit product that include monthly payments, without stopping the use of granted credits to be paid on a weekly basis. ‘The advice to the commercial area and the authorisation of the new contract by the regulator (SBS) have opened new possibilities of business to the bank’, says Aguilar.