Countries in Latam your role covers: Argentina, Brazil, Colombia, Costa Rica, Chile, Ecuador, México, Panamá, Perú, República Dominicana

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

In general, the most relevant have been different corporate acquisitions and restructurings in these countries to create an efficient corporate framework. In our sector, growth through the acquisition of companies is a very generalised factor, which is why, after different investments, our participation in this type of operation has been fundamental in all the jurisdictions in which we are present through disciplinary teams that bring together internal and external advisors.

Also, create new contracting processes and configurations given the latest legislative changes, especially those that affect Mexico in the labour aspect, due to their impact on our business.

Finally, our team is participating in different international arbitrations, with public and private organisations, for commercial controversies valued at more than €20m. Together with our external advisors, we establish the legal strategy for the controversy, prepare the case and lead the defence.

The unusual business environment created by the pandemic has been swiftly followed by the Ukraine crisis, attendant supply chain costs rising and inflation. Are you now putting more emphasis on preparing for the unforeseen and, if so, what does this entail?

Of course, it is a priority for our area. Opportunities are analysed from an additional point of view, and simple clauses of force majeure or similar are not valid. Since the opportunity for the transaction arises, its negotiation and follow-up are different — we currently consider several new factors.

Different company teams are involved in the study of the specific cases, establishing requirements to carry out the transactions so that unknown factors at that time have the least possible impact and are not significant. Examples include new provisions for risks and penalties and more guarantee clauses with customers and suppliers, which include limitations regarding inflation and delivery times.

What are your organisations plans in the Latam region over the next 12 months, and how will your legal expertise help to achieve these plans?

The company plans to continue growing sustainably in these geographies. For this, from the legal team, we have created a very efficient network of internal and external lawyers dedicated to adding value to the business through the team’s participation from the beginning of the operations until their closure and positioning ourselves as a strategic advisor in the organisation.

In this sense, from the legal area, we have created. We continue to improve different processes and tools to give autonomy to the business closing its operations to provide them with speed and efficiency. We also embed technology in our area and the processes with the rest of the company’s areas.

In addition, we have established a series of KPIs in the area to measure our activity and the value we bring to the company. This element allows us to make decisions to continue improving the legal function.