About

Number of years practice:

41

Principal practice areas:

Latin American Finance; Lending

Bar admissions:

Illinois

Languages spoken:

English, Spanish

Since Mayer Brown opened its Mexico City office three years ago, the firm has developed a team with ample bench strength for a broad range of financings and that works together seamlessly based on shared experience and familiarity with each other. This US/Mexico group, which provides both insight and solutions is strengthened by de Hoyos’ focus on lending and emerging markets transactions.

Notable cases for Debora de Hoyos over the past year include representing Nomura in a US$40m securitization loan; representing Citi/Banamex in connection with a MXN$8.2bn securitization; representing Goldman Sachs in a securitization granting a revolving credit for up to $100m; representing Mexican finance company CrediJusto; and advising Cargill on a $575m refinancing, structured as a $475 loan and $100m credit facility.
I am comfortable melding the firm’s US securitization and structured finance experience with Mexican legal structures and principles. I bring a wide transactional breadth drawn from many years of practice and an ease in working with Mexican colleagues.

What are the advantages and disadvantages of advising Mexico-based clients from an office in the United States?

All of my work is cross-border, and I see no downside of being based in the United States. Being in the US is convenient for drawing on my US colleagues’ knowledge. At the same time, modern information technology allows me to be in close contact with my colleagues in Mexico, and I travel back and forth often. Our clients are located in Mexico, the US, Europe and Asia and choose us based on skill and experience rather than location.

What changes in the commercial and/or legal market do you anticipate in the 12 months ahead in Mexico?

Much of my current work involves the financing of fintechs and other non-bank providers of loans and leases to small and medium-sized businesses and loans to consumers. This is a growing sector, with these enterprises seeking to serve an underserved segment of the Mexican economy. I would expect steady-to-growing deal flow to provide capital in this area.

What influence will legal technology have on US/Mexico working practices in the future?

The more information technology develops, the more it will improve timing for and maximize productivity in legal service delivery. I think it is still an open question on the extent to which legal technology will improve cost-effectiveness for complex transactions, but I am optimistic.

What is your perception of in-house counsel’s priorities in terms of client service when working with US-based law firms?

Clients are seeking very specific knowledge and experience for the specific types of transactions they are doing. They expect their US and Mexican lawyers to work as a fully coordinated team. And, as all of our clients do, they expect quality, timeliness and value for money.

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