Legal Team size:  Ten 

How do you approach managing legal aspects during periods of instability or crises, and how does your legal strategy align with the broader business strategy to ensure the organisation’s resilience? 

For an Insurance Company, times of crisis and instability are undoubtedly the greatest windows of opportunity, as insurance is a counter-cyclical activity where uncertainty, heightened risk, and the perception of potential damages and losses create a need for protection against them. 

In such situations, it becomes a challenge to establish the necessary infrastructure to meet the increased demand for coverage, as well as to adapt to the specific needs and characteristics of each sector and activity, avoiding to enter into the increasing perils and the situations of insolvency that arises in crises times. 

Continuity involves legal adaptability during crises ensuring compliance with changing regulations and adjusting internal policies to reflect the new environment. New policies and governance frameworks, particularly those related to risk reduction, must be revised to align with new instability realities. Clear and transparent communication of these changes to clients, shareholders, and suppliers is essential to build effective support, trust and confidence. 

What are the main cases or transactions that you have been involved in recently?   

Our strategic plan “Impulsa Cesce 2025” identifies Sustainability as a new line of action within its strategic pillars. This involves fully integrating sustainability into our strategy through a cross-cutting approach encompassing our environmental, social, and governance commitments. 

Among these objectives, priority has been given to supporting projects and business committed to environmental protection. For example, this includes the Legal Department deeply involved in facilitating the drafts of financial guarantees required by law to fulfill the obligations of Extended Producer Responsibility Systems (SCRAPs) in organising the collection and management of packaging waste (such as cardboard, plastic, glass, and all materials in general). CESCE’s Legal Department has intensely collaborated with main associations and foundations and its brokers managing these Systems to reinforce financial responsibility in their adhesion contracts with producers. This has been achieved by providing the SCRAPs with financial guarantees in the area of waste management through surety insurance cover and structuring necessary counter-guarantees via credit insurance to cover producer contributions or by establishing additional pledges or guarantees as needed to ensure that SCRAPs operate with the legally required financial security. 

In the field of insurance activity as an Export Credit Agency (ECA) covering the risks associated with the internationalisation of the Spanish economy, efforts have been made to create support products for sustainable projects, including both exports and investments. This has led to the creation of Green Investment Policies. 

How can general counsel foster a corporate culture that supports ESG principles and compliance across all levels of the organisation?  

Legal general counsel fosters a culture supporting ESG principles by embedding them into governance, aligning them with business objectives and shareholders directives, and ensuring compliance through according policies and Board of Directors reporting frameworks.  

The emergence of new legal requirements and the transposition—currently at Parliament the draft bill stage—of Directive EU 2022/2464 compels our Legal Department to urgently devise measures to anticipate the publication of this regulation, which will impact Sustainability Reports and the incorporation of Sustainability Information Verifiers. These legal requirements must be implemented within the 2024 fiscal year. 

The regulatory changes will affect key laws, such as the Commercial Code, the Companies Act, and the Audit Act. This will necessitate coordination among various internal departments to implement the legal updates or, if the legislative timeline is not met, to comply with the existing laws nowadays, which are themselves being amended by directly applicable EU Regulations. 

By monitoring such regulatory developments and  advocating sustainable practices according to law,  we ensure the organisation stays compliant and competitive. Integrating ESG regulation into Corporate management, Account and audit, risk management, and business creates a unified approach incorporating Sustainability compliance.