About

Number of years practice: 33 Law school attended: Cornell Law School Languages spoken: English and Spanish Principal practice areas: Bank Finance, Capital Markets Admissions: New York

Alejandro Camacho has been a partner at Clifford Chance since 1993, and is a former co-head of the firm’s Capital Markets practice. Throughout his 33 year career, Camacho has been at the forefront of Mexico-related capital markets work. His close interaction with Mexican bankers, businessmen and lawyers has given him the opportunity to offer advice on unique transactions and market-firsts. An early highlight in Camacho’s career saw him acting as sole international transaction counsel on Banco Nacional de Comercio Exterior’s 1989 bond issuance. The offering, which was guaranteed by the United Mexican States, represented the first new-money capital markets transaction in Latin America since the 1970s. Camacho’s work laid critical foundations for subsequent Mexican capital markets transactions and opened the market for many other issuers. He has continued to innovate in his work, bringing together knowledge of law and economics to provide solutions to the distinctive problems of his clients. Camacho’s work on three securities offerings for Gruma, the world’s largest producer of corn flour and tortillas, over the decade from 2004, again set the trend for the market in the future. His advice on Gruma’s $300m offering of perpetual bonds helped launch the first ever perpetual bond to be issued by a private-sector corporate without a step-up coupon, as well as the first of its type issued from an emerging economy. As well as his many award-winning and precedent-setting pieces of work, Camacho has still found time to give back to the community. He has held a number of positions on volunteer boards and is known for publishing his thoughts on a wide variety of legal matters. What are your predictions for change in the US-Mexico relationship? I expect the relationship between the US and Mexican governments will be strained or even hostile over the next couple of years. Formal initiations to enhance trade between the two countries that have been in the works for the last number of years will likely suffer or languish. Personal relationships between Mexicans and Americans should remain strong. The US and Mexican legal and business communities will need to work hard together to face the additional challenges.Is there a key economic factor or trend you regard as likely to impact the Mexican legal sector over the next 18 months? Donald Trump’s protectionist policies will likely continue to have a negative impact on Mexico’s economy. As the economy contracts and the peso devalues, I expect there will be a net slowdown of cross-border legal activity over the next 18 months. We may see an increase in restructuring and liability management transactions. Are there any sectors you regard as likely growth areas for the Mexican market over the next five years? Energy, consumer products, medical devices, real estate, electronics and auto.