About

As legal studies senior manager of the Central Bank of the Republic of Argentina (BCRA), Maria del Carmen Urquiza occupies a highly specialised and technical role at Argentina’s Central Bank covering all matters in domestic and international law, including various interspersed financial crises in Argentina over the last 20 years. First joining the BCRA in 1981, she has spent her entire career at the bank in various roles. She currently focusses on providing legal counsel on all technical matters concerning international law as well as research and educational provisions. In charge of multidisciplinary team of 21 employees, including lawyers, translators and administrative personnel, she states her goal has always been ‘to encourage the legal team to embrace new challenges’, which are plentiful in Argentina’s unpredictable economy. Her wide-ranging remit sees her report to various internal parties including the governor and board of directors, whilst contributing to the advancement of the profession through research and knowledge promotion. This work has assumed various forms in her long association with the bank including ‘several studies on central banking and the financial system’ including ‘delivering lectures on such topics at various international forums, such as the Center for Latin American Monetary Studies’. She has enjoyed numerous successes while at the BCRA, including intervening in the renegotiation of Argentine public international debt during the 1980s and 1990s, resulting in the development of the Brady Plan. She has also counselled on several bank restructures, implemented new financing instruments and represented the National Securities Commission and BCRA during the drafting of important securities law at The Hague Conference. One of her recent career highlights is providing legal counsel in a complex repurchase agreement between the BCRA and a consortium of international banks for financing purposes, achieved after an ‘intense’ period of negotiation.