Diaz Reus International Law Firm & Alliance > Bogota, Colombia > Profile

Diaz Reus International Law Firm & Alliance > The Legal 500 Rankings

Colombia > Compliance and white-collar crime Tier 3

The team at USA-headquartered Diaz Reus International Law Firm & Alliance is commended for providing ‘quality, honest, transparent, and close advice’. Distinguished by its robust cross-border expertise, the Bogotá-based group frequently teams up with the wider firm’s Miami office to advise on Colombian, US, and other international compliance regulations. It also handles criminal proceedings and transaction-related issues. Demonstrating the practice’s international-facing approach, ‘exceptional attorney’ Javier Coronado splits his time between Bogotá and Miami. The department also draws on the senior experience of Bogotá managing partner Marcela Blanco, who is dual-qualified in Florida and Colombia and also has a significant multi-jurisdictional dimension to her practice. A former lawyer at the Office of the Attorney General, capable associate Marcelo Buendía Vélez is additionally recommended.

Colombia > Corporate and M&A Tier 6

Miami-headquartered Diaz Reus International Law Firm & Alliance is distinguished by its focus on corporate compliance matters. In particular, its international platform and team of dual US and Colombia-qualified lawyers ensures it is a popular choice to advise domestic and regional companies on US compliance and anti-corruption regulations. Bogotá office head Marcela Blanco maintains a broad practice that spans commercial, corporate, compliance, and white-collar crime work. The team also includes associate Marcelo Buendía Vélez, who specialises in compliance and white-collar crime issues, including investigations, litigation, tax crime and anti-money laundering matters.

Diaz Reus International Law Firm & Alliance > Profile

Diaz Reus Bogotá is well-known for its corporate and white-collar practices.

Our firm has a well-established corporate practice and currently serves as permanent legal counsel for important international investors in the country. Within the line of legal services, our firm has been directly engaged in corporate reorganizations and restructurings, transactional advising, contract drafting for medium to large scale transactions, liquidation and winding-up of corporations, among others. Our firm is able to bring its multi-jurisdictional legal experience to its corporate clients to ensure compliance with the regulatory environment in which they operate.

Our firm also has developed a reputable practice in white collar crime by successfully representing high-profile businessmen and market-leading corporations in white-collar investigations that are conducted by law enforcement agencies in Colombia. From a defense perspective, the firm has a sterling reputation for its ability to navigate and avoid criminal indictments on behalf of its clients. When representing clients as crime-victim attorneys, the firm is well known for effectively conducting internal investigations and securing the prosecution of criminal targets by efficiently communicating the results of these internal investigations to the Colombian law enforcement agencies.

The firm also represents international clients in business transactions, corporate governance, and entity formation, particularly, in securing the client’s compliance with international, US and Colombian legal standards, regulations, and best practices regarding criminal law, economic sanctions, money laundering, domestic and foreign corruption, and financial and securities fraud. Accordingly, the firm’s team is ready to traverse business-crime cases in Colombia by following US gold-standards for securing and presenting evidence to law enforcement agencies and criminal courts. With the support of its global network of experts, the firm is also ready to navigate the rules and dynamics of highly specialized industries and disciplines, which business-crime cases in Colombia and elsewhere often involve.

We counsel clients in various industries (tourism, oil, electronics, retail, agriculture, etc) in capitalizations, entity selection and formation, operating and partnership agreements, securities, contracts and governance matters. The firm also conducts due diligence efforts and internal investigations in various industries for clients with concerns that their business practices or certain specific transactions may violate economic sanctions, money laundering, corruption, and criminal laws. The firm identifies, isolates, and corrects the questionable transactions and practices; and further develops enhanced corporate governance programs to avoid repeat violations.

Our firm stands out among the rest because it brings to its practice legal experience in US and Colombia.  Our attorneys are bilingual, licensed in Colombia and the US, and are experienced in these two jurisdictions (among others). The firm also provides access to an international network of attorneys, experts, and private investigators, including a team of former US prosecutors and government agents, and Board-Certified lawyers in international law, International litigation and arbitration, and Immigration law. With the support of its global network of experts, the firm is also ready to navigate the rules and dynamics of highly specialized industries and disciplines. Further, the firm is knowledgeable in handling complex and multi-jurisdictional proceedings, including non-criminal parallel law enforcement actions.

Legal Briefings

• US anti-corruption developments – 2019 in review

  Throughout 2019, the US Department of Justice (DOJ) and the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) continued to actively investigate and prosecute individuals and corporations under the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA) for suspected involvement with political corruption and/or bribery around the world. The US implemented further aggressive measures to fight corruption, including economic sanctions administered …

  Continue reading ""