The Legal 500

A ‘highly skilled and excellent lawyer', managing partner Jaime Carey heads the go-to team at Carey, which covers the full spectrum of tax services. The practice group has grown to comprise 18 lawyers devoted full-time to tax planning, due diligence, compliance, and litigation mandates; in addition to four auditors, including one engineer, in charge of tax consulting and due diligence matters. Department co-heads Alex Fischer and Jessica Power are both extremely well reputed, particularly for corporate tax planning and international tax consulting. Fischer was formerly at Ernst and Young; Power recently advised on the tax aspects of the local leg of ING's sale of its Latin American life and pension operations to Colombian holding company Grupo Sura. Another headline mandate in an exceptional 2011 saw the tax team involved in advising Codelco on the financing of its acquisition of an interest in Anglo American's Sur complex. The experienced up-and-coming associate Luis Seguel, is adept at representing clients in large tax lawsuits before the IRS and the judiciary alike. He successfully acted for Aguas Andinas in a multimillion-dollar tax refund case, and advised New Zealand investment company Rank Group on a tax remission and audit process matter. The firm is further able to provide tax compliance services through its wholly-owned affiliate Gestión Global, comprised of 12 accountants.

Ernst & Young (Santiago)'s large tax and legal team is led by highly regarded professor Pablo Greiber, who is well known in the market for his tax advisory work. His team's expertise also spans corporate restructuring, litigation and foreign investment matters. Fellow partner Ricardo Escobar is a distinguished expert in operation structuring across various jurisdictions, whereas the knowledgeable Alicia Dominguez has substantial experience in advising companies in the mining sector. The experienced Fernando Leigh is also recommended.

Finely reputed tax specialists Baraona Abogados suffered a blow in March 2011 with the death of former managing partner Agustín Marré. While the team retains impressive tax strength, his market leading tax litigation expertise will be missed. The reorganised firm sees finance partner Max Spiess take over leadership of the team, which was boosted further recently with the arrival of Patricio de Groote. His competence in international corporate finance adds further weight to senior partner Juan Manuel Baraona and Carolina Collantes' existing expertise in the tax side of structuring, negotiating and executing cross-border transactions. The group's competence ranges from corporate and personal tax planning, and compliance to tax litigation before the Chilean courts. Key representative clients include Quiñenco, JPMorgan Chase Bank and Antofagasta Minerals. New instructions were received from Compañía Chilena de Tabacos, Hamburg Süd and Sacyr.

Fernando Barros, who is noted for his ‘vast knowledge, capacity for analysis and direct and explicit advice', leads the ‘excellent' practice at Barros & Errázuriz. Its ‘high-quality professionals' are the port of call for companies and high-net-worth individuals seeking assistance on complex domestic and international tax planning and implementation, transactional structuring and day-to-day corporate activity. María Teresa Cremaschi, who led the majority of the team's prominent instructions, advised the Peruvian mining company Volcan on the tax structuring of its acquisition of a stake in Chilean cement producer Polpaico. She also assisted Gestair with the legal and tax structure necessary to set up a flying academy in Chile, and shipping group Sipsa with its tax and corporate reorganisation. Other clients include Siemens, Prosegur and Indumotora. The firm is the sole Chilean member of Taxand.

Newly promoted partner Juan Pablo Orellana heads the ‘highly reliable' tax department at full-service firm Cariola Diez Perez-Cotapos y Cia. The quality of its service is reported by clients to have remained as high as ever, despite the departure in 2011 of Oscar Ferrari to Avendaño Merino Abogados. The team provides ‘high-end solutions' on a wide variety of matters including merger and acquisition transactions, financing projects and corporate restructuring, as well as being instructed for tax litigation and advice on legislative projects by public entities. The team has a flourishing mining client base, as a result of the firm's strength in the sector. Highlights included Francisco Javier Illanes advising Brazil's Tam Airlines on the challenging cross-border structuring of its merger with LAN Chile; and assisting Colombia's Organización Terpel with the sale of its subsidiary Organización Terpel Chile due to antitrust regulations. Other clients included Shell, Corporación América and Replay.

KPMG has notably strengthened its practice group with several key lateral hires including its departmental head, the highly regarded Francisco Lyon, brought over from Philippi, Yrarrázaval, Pulido & Brunner; Rodrigo Stein, who arrived from Carey; and Mauricio Lopez from Ernst & Young (Santiago). The legal team doubled in 2010 and now comprises 21 lawyers devoted to tax matters.

The highly reputed full service firm Philippi, Yrarrázaval, Pulido & Brunner grew considerably in 2011. Most significantly, from a tax perspective, was the incorporation of Patricio Silva-Riesco, who previously led the judicial enforcement and tax crime department at the Chilean Tax Authority, as the head of its tax litigation team, strengthening the group's ability to represent clients in judicial and administrative proceedings related to tax practice. Standout practitioners include team-head Mario Silva and the ‘very well known' Guillermo Infante, who comes highly recommended. The team regularly advises on domestic and international tax structuring of acquisition transactions and joint ventures. It recently assisted Sumitomo on the joint venture formed to develop the $724m Sierra Gorda project; advised Quiñenco on its $614m acquisition of Shell's assets in Chile; and acted for Scotiabank with the tax aspects of its acquisition of RBS Bank Chile. Other clients include Ford Motor Company, Coeur D'Alene Mines Corporation and Deka Immobilien.

Baker & McKenzie delivers an ‘exemplary' service, ‘both timely and thorough'. The expanding practice is led by the highly recommended Alberto Maturana, who is able to draw on his considerable experience advising Canadian mining companies investing in Chile to answer his high-profile mining clients' complex requirements. The group recently welcomed the arrival of tax expert Miguel Massone, who was previously at PwC in Santiago. The team advises companies and high-net-worth individuals from a broad spectrum of industries on international and domestic taxation, inbound and outbound tax structuring, tax planning and business structuring. It advised Origin Energy on the structuring and financing of its acquisition of a stake in geothermal exploration company Energía Andina; assisted Quadra Mining FNX on the tax planning and the financial structure of its joint venture with Sumitomo Metal Mining; and acted for Autostrade per l'Ítalia on its complex acquisition of a toll road concession company. It also successfully acted for Equant Chile in a $5m VAT litigation claim before the Supreme Court.

PricewaterhouseCoopers Consultores, Auditores y Compañía Limitada has a good reputation for tax planning and corporate restructuring domestically and internationally. Francisco Selamé heads the practice.

Carey & Allende has a first-rate practice capable of advising on complex domestic and international tax structuring as well as tax claims before the Chilean tax authority. Diego García's team recently assisted Jacobs Chile with the implementation of an optimum structure for its construction project in Israel; advised Elecnor España on the restructuring of its investments in Chile and assisted American Tower Corporation with obtaining a $3.5m VAT refund from the Chilean tax administration.

Claro y Cia's compact tax team ‘exhibits a high level of expertise' and ‘its line of argument is invariably impeccable'. Department head Jorge Carraha ‘is technically very good, detailed and well prepared, he never overlooks any aspect of a situation and imbues a very high level of confidence with the analysis he provides'. The team is advising LAN Airlines' current controller Cueto Group on the tax aspects of the $4bn cross-border transaction that will see LAN merge with Tam. Other highlights included assisting AEI Southern Cone with its corporate restructuring in connection with the sale of its energy distribution business in Chile and Peru to Sempra Energy International, and providing tax assistance to Itaú Unibanco in connection with the acquisition of an interest in a private banking and stock brokerage business.

Guerrero, Olivos, Novoa y Errazuriz impresses with its technical knowledge and receives plaudits for its ability to ‘protect its clients' interests by providing appropriate and accurate solutions to all matters'. Sebastián Guerrero leads the team, which regularly advises local and international companies on a wide range of corporate tax matters and handles complex tax issues in connection with mergers, acquisitions and corporate restructurings. The team is also adept at individual and estate tax planning. Guerrero assisted NSL on tax and corporate structures for its $600m purchase of a wind farm in southern Chile; advised Plansee on tax and corporate matters in relation to the $250m sale of shares in molybdenum processor Molymet, and acted for food manufacturer Empresas Carozzi on the spinoff of Industrias Carozzi. Associate Jaime del Valle is singled out for being ‘very focused, efficient and very knowledgeable'.

The well-rounded and recently enlarged tax practice at Prieto y Cia delivers high-quality service to its international client base on the full range of tax matters. The team's comprehensive tax expertise is sought by clients from a variety of sectors such as retail, real estate, public utilities, insurance and capital markets, with a substantial track record of instructions by oil and gas companies drawing upon the strength of the firm's energy department. The team assists with the structuring of a wide range of merger and acquisitions transactions and other business operations, and is also distinguished for its active litigation practice. Highlights included being regular counsel to GDF Suez and all its Chilean subsidiaries on a range of tax matters. It also recently representing Telefónica Internacional Chile in court. Other clients include Mapfre Seguros, Repsol YPF and Agbar Group. Mario Gorziglia and Leonidas Prieto co-head the team.