What are the most significant cases, projects and/or transactions that you and/or your legal team have recently been involved in?

CARDNET’s Legal Department serves as a strategic pillar within the electronic payments ecosystem, supporting the company’s commercial vision and contributing to the development of secure, compliant, and scalable business models. We are engaged throughout the lifecycle of each product, from design to implementation, ensuring compliance with local regulations and the standards of international schemes like Visa, Mastercard, Amex. Our work is deeply integrated with the operations, technology, innovation, and marketing teams, enabling cross-functional alignment.

Among our recent milestones, we actively promoted updates to the Payment Systems Regulation, advocating for modern standards that facilitate cross-border transactions and foster the entry of new players. These efforts aligned with international best practices and contributed to enhancing legal certainty and ecosystem security.

We also led the authorisation and operational deployment of Payment Aggregators in the Dominican Republic. This included defining their commercial, fiscal, and operational frameworks, and building strategic alliances that position CARDNET as a leading partner for shared industry growth.

How do you approach managing legal aspects during periods of instability or crisis to ensure the organisation’s resilience?

We employ a proactive “Identify – Debate – Escalate” approach to legal risk management. First, we systematically identify risks and assess their regulatory, ethical, and strategic implications. We then foster open internal debate to evaluate alternative responses and align solutions with corporate objectives. When matters involve broader strategic implications, we escalate them to senior management, ensuring informed decision-making, organisational resilience, and long-term value protection.

Looking forward, what trends do you foresee in the legal landscape in Dominican Republic over the next 5–10 years that companies should prepare for?

The legal landscape in the Dominican Republic is evolving rapidly, particularly in the financial and payments sectors, requiring greater agility and strategic foresight. The push for interoperability among banks, fintech’s, and new market entrants will accelerate regional and global integration. Real-time and cross-border payments will become the norm, demanding strong compliance frameworks and immediate reconciliation capabilities with the International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS). The growing user expectations for transparency and 24/7 accessibility will continue driving the expansion of digital-first solutions.

The accelerated growth of real-time online payment solutions will respond to users’ demand for immediacy, transparency, and constant availability, consolidating an environment where payments operate continuously and without interruptions. Artificial intelligence (AI) will play a central role in automating compliance, enhancing fraud prevention, and refining risk assessment. These innovations will introduce new regulatory complexities and ethical considerations. Simultaneously, initiatives in Open Banking and API-based service delivery will expand market access and financial inclusion, stimulating competition.

In this dynamic environment, companies must remain adaptable. Legal departments will continue to be essential partners in driving innovation, ensuring regulatory readiness, and enabling sustainable growth.