Mrs María Cristina Fábrega > Arias > Panama, Panama > Lawyer Profile

Arias‘ banking and finance practice leverages its extensive network of offices in Central America and close connections to international law firms to handle a steady stream of cross-border mandates, including advising on regional transactions alongside the firm’s other branches. The team predominantly acts on the lender side, assisting international banks, development finance institutions and other financial services providers with loans to Panamanian entities in the financial services, tourism, manufacturing and wholesale sectors, among others. María Cristina Fábrega, whose areas of expertise include fintech, asset finance, and project and infrastructure finance, leads the team.

Arias‘ corporate team is particularly distinguished by its ability to advise on cross-border M&A, frequently joining forces with the firm’s other offices in Central America – as well as with leading international law firms – to act for major multinationals in regional deals. The team also has robust skill sets in assisting international companies from a diverse array of sectors – including financial services, pharmaceuticals, textiles and energy – with restructurings, corporate governance and compliance matters. María Cristina Fábrega heads the transactional side of the practice, frequently coordinating teams from various Central American jurisdictions, while Yuri Moreno is a key adviser on day-to-day corporate matters, supported by director Denise Littman.

Formed after the separation of Arias & Muñoz, the first Central American law firm, Arias fields a 39-partner-strong offering across seven offices located in Costa Rica, Honduras, El Salvador, Nicaragua, Guatemala and Panama. The firm is renowned for its advice to major global and regional banks, multilateral development institutions and household-name multinationals regarding complex, region-wide transactions, along with syndicated loans, project and acquisition finance, and local and cross-border M&A. Fintech specialist Mario Lozano, managing partner Lilian Arias, M&A expert Roberta Gallardo and Luisa Rivas are among the key names from the sizeable corporate and finance teams in El Salvador. In Costa Rica, Diego Gallegos and Vicente Lines lead the banking practice; Linares, who frequently advises clients on market entry, also heads up the corporate team alongside Andrey Dorado and Melania Dittel. Foreign investment expert Ana Teresa Rizo, Bertha Arguello, Gustavo-Adolfo Vargas (who is a key adviser to multilaterals), and Rodrigo Ibarra are the names to note in Nicaragua. In Guatemala, Luis Pedro Del Valle is the “go-to” figure for corporate and finance matters; Evangelina Lardizábal and Mario Agüero head the practice in Honduras (where the firm has offices in Tegucigalpa and San Pedro Sula); and Yuri Moreno and M&A specialist María Cristina Fábrega lead the team in Panama.