About

IBT has operated in ten countries in the Latin American region for over 20 years. Its in-house legal team has helped navigate the company through economic downturns and recessions in Latin America as well as political uncertainty in the various countries the firm operates in. The legal team has proved to be dynamic and ever responsive in negotiating EPC contracts with government entities in difficult social-political contexts such as the situations in Peru, Panama and El Salvador. It has also added value to the company by documenting all of the IBT’s efforts in collecting money for work performed, and in defending and leading the company to victory when negotiation has proved futile, and in arbitration proceedings. The legal team is led by Juan T. O’Naghten, general counsel, and consists of 20 attorneys and five support staff. Recently the team has had numerous successes including the international arbitration against the Peruvian government and two parallel arbitration proceedings against the Republic of Panama regarding the financing and construction of health facilities in Panama. Additionally the team has worked on the acquisition of Isolux Corsan and Bank of America’s US$30m credit agreement and loan transaction. O’Naghten identifies that the team’s biggest challenge of working in Latin America has been the region’s treatment of ‘transparency, compliancy and local autonomy’ and wishes for it to be improved.