About

Taking charge of the legal team at private bank Banco Popular Dominicana, legal vice president Manuel M. Matos G. oversees a team of 25 lawyers and 12 non-legal staff. Ensuring the company’s risk profile is adequately assessed and dealt with, there is a deep pool of talented professionals that are experts in bank litigation administration and administrative law, two issues that Matos states are ‘of great impact in the development of work in the legal area’. Speaking on the recent work of the team in more detail, Matos illustrates its involvement in ‘the design and drafting of contracts for new banking products, such as wallets, which use technology for online payments, as well as initiatives aimed at replacing paper. With regard to banking law, it has promoted innovative solutions to comply with the regulations related to the protection of the financial user’s rights’. The team’s focus is on offering ‘efficient consultations’ which are developing through ‘empathic interaction with internal clients’, and are always provided with the ‘legal security necessary to comply with regulations, as well as the internal processes and policies of the institution’. In addition to its outstanding legal support, the team is at the forefront of discussions regarding the law and business environment it operates within, it is an active member of the legal committees in several industry bodies including the Chamber of Commerce and Production of Santo Domingo, Association of Banks of the Dominican Republic and the National Council of Companies, where it has participated ‘in the revision of draft laws relating to bankruptcy, securities market regulations and the Real Estate regime’. During the research process several counsel were highlighted for their contribution to the legal team. In addition to the aforementioned Matos, there is division manager Miriam Jocelyne Sánchez Fung and five department managers covering all areas of the team’s needs: institutional contracts is dealt with by Nicole L. González B, complaints and demands by Valentín Aquino, embargoes by José Bautista, institutional support and bank operations by Paola Herasme Estevez and managing discrepancies is Gisela Patricia Bengoa.