Team size: 3

What are the key projects you have been involved in over the past twelve months ?

Over the past twelve months, I have had the opportunity to work closely with my team on the closing of several complex negotiations with promoters of global sponsorship and marketing assets in Colombia, such as FIFA, involving multiple Visa clients across the region. This work has required active participation in cross-functional discussions with talent and marketing agencies and other stakeholders responsible for the implementation of regional campaigns across different countries.

In addition, I had the opportunity to work in the renewal of important partnerships to strengthen the card and payment innovation business with important digital wallets, traditional banks and acquirers in Colombia and the Andean countries.

The regulatory front in the payment industry in the Andean region continues to be very active and particularly dynamic in Peru and Ecuador. As part of my role, I’ve been actively engaging with regulators across the region and led different legal impact assessments of new products and solutions offered in the region. In Peru, the issuance of the new Reglamento General del Sistema Nacional de Pagos took us time to understand its impact on our network, participants and business, as well as the implementation of different training sessions for the teams affected.

Across the commercial partnership and the assessment of regulations in the industry, my role and my team roles have been the same: protect Visa while enabling the business and providing practical and conservative legal advice to move initiatives forward.

Can you describe an instance where your legal advice directly influenced business strategy or commercial objectives?

The legal advice my team and I provide consistently influences business strategy and commercial outcomes. Through our negotiations with clients, as well as our assessment of opportunities and risks, we are able to shape the structure and drafting of proposals in a way that enables the business to move forward and successfully close deals.

In addition, the legal assessment of Visa’s products and solutions is a critical step in the process. Without this analysis, new products cannot be launched or implemented in the market

Ultimately, our most important role is to protect Visa — its reputation, brand and long-term interests — and we do so in every review that we do and any litigation that we act on, while at the same time enabling innovation and supporting business growth.

Organisations are facing increasing regulation across jurisdictions. How do you embed compliance across the business?

Visa operates in an environment where increased regulation and supervisory oversight is not new. It has always been part of the nature of our business. Visa is subject to oversight by strong authorities, including the Federal Financial Institutions Examination Council (FFIEC), the Bank of England, the Payment Systems Regulator (PSR) in the UK, the European Central Bank and other competent authorities across the EU and globally.

Given the level of regulation in our industry, embedding compliance into the business is not a separate exercise; it is part of how Visa operates on a daily basis. There are more than three teams whose responsibilities are centered around ensuring compliance and maintaining strong relationships with regulators, including Legal, Compliance, Government Affairs, and Risk and Regulatory Risk.

In particular, the legal team works closely with the business to ensure that regulatory considerations are integrated into decision-making at an early stage. Additionally, the business units, product teams and operations are particularly insistent on cross-functional collaboration, with legal as an ally translating complex regulatory language into practical guidance that teams can implement.

In this context, and for Visa, embedding compliance into the business is less about adding layers of review and more about integrating it into how the business operates day-to-day.

Beyond your legal role, is there a cause or initiative you are especially passionate about?

I’m deeply passionate about gender equality and women leadership. I’m currently the Chair of Visa’s LAC Women Network and in such capacity I have the opportunity to create and organise different spaces openly discuss issues that are relevant to women, as well as support the development of skills that enable them to grow within the organization. Last march for instance we hosted conferences around personal brand and leadership.

Through this work, I aim to contribute to building a more inclusive environment where women feel supported, heard, and empowered to advance in their careers.