Team size: 80 across 8 countries

Bio

Valeria Camacho Martins Schmitke Ducatti has 30 years of experience in the insurance market, having worked for Sul América, Unibanco AIG Seguros, ABN Amro insurance Company (Real Seguros) Metlife and Zurich. Currently she works as Regional Latin America General Counsel for Zurich Insurance Company, responsible for the legal services in 8 countries. In addition, she has worked for 13 years as Compliance Officer for two insurance companies.

She holds a degree in Legal by São Paulo University (USP), a degree in Language and Literature by the Faculdade Hebraico-Brasileira Renascença, a Post-Graduation in Corporate Law by Mackenzie University, Executive MBA in insurance administration by Ibmec-Funenseg and a technical specialisation in reinsurance. She also has a Post-Graduation in Archaeology of Middle East by the Adventist University of São Paulo (Unasp).

She is married, with one daughter, two stepsons and a nephew-son. She has 5 cats and three dogs, being a militant for Diversity & Inclusion and Animal rights.

How do you approach managing legal aspects during periods of instability or crises, and how does your legal strategy align with the broader business strategy to ensure the organisation’s resilience?

Periods of instability bring many challenges to the Legal Department. The number of questions and problems raises a lot. One good example was the pandemic, when Legal had to analyse new situations based on the applicable law and give advice to all areas of the company.

On the other hand, periods of crise force people to be creative in business, and Legal must also be creative, keeping the mandate of protecting the company and its executives.

What measures has your company taken to embed sustainability practices into its core business operations, and how does the role of the general counsel contribute to driving and ensuring sustainable practices within the company?

Zurich is in the forefront of sustainability and environmental protection. The company (and all areas of it) has reduced a lot the carbon footprint, created sustainable products and processes and all areas are involved in such initiatives. The General Counsel has to, first of all, believe in what is being done, then use its influence and power to foster them, within his/her team and in the company. After that, he/she can provide legal solutions and work to make sure employees and providers also comply with the Company’s vision for sustainability.