Career Biography

Karen Piddo Gattás is a general counsel, governance leader, and trusted adviser with more than 25 years of experience helping boards, executives, investors, and family-owned enterprises navigate complex legal, regulatory, and strategic challenges. Throughout her career, she has combined legal excellence with strong commercial judgment, enabling organisations to manage risk, enhance governance, and create long-term value in highly regulated and evolving industries.

Since 2018, Karen has served as general counsel of MH Inversiones, the holding company of the Matetic Group, one of Chile’s most diversified business groups. She leads the legal and compliance function across businesses operating and investing in forestry, agriculture, livestock, wine, tourism and hospitality, private aviation, and steel and metalworking industries. Working closely with the boards of the holding company and its subsidiaries, she has led complex mergers and acquisitions, financing transactions, corporate restructurings, governance initiatives, and high-value negotiations, helping position the legal function as a strategic contributor to decision-making and sustainable growth.

A defining feature of Karen’s leadership has been her ability to translate increasingly sophisticated legal and regulatory requirements into practical solutions that support organisational objectives. She has modernised governance frameworks, strengthened compliance and risk management systems, implemented crime prevention models, established audit and risk committees, and streamlined corporate structures to improve accountability, transparency, and efficiency. By promoting a proactive and business-oriented legal function, she has played a key role in strengthening organisational resilience and supporting long-term growth.

Prior to joining MH Inversiones, Karen developed extensive expertise in corporate law, mergers and acquisitions, investment funds, financing transactions, foreign investment, and regulatory matters through senior roles at leading firms and organisations, including Carey y Cía., Bofill Mir & Álvarez Jana, Eyzaguirre y Cía., Equitas Capital, and Souza Cescon Barrieu & Flesch Advogados in São Paulo. Advising both domestic and international clients across a broad range of industries, she gained a multidisciplinary perspective that continues to shape her strategic approach to legal and governance matters.

Karen holds an LL.M. in International Legal Studies from New York University, awarded through a full-tuition Hugo Grotius Scholarship, and earned her law degree with highest distinction from Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile. She received the Fernando Rozas Vial Prize as the top student in Civil Law and later taught Constitutional Law and Public International Law at her alma mater. In 2018, she completed the Diploma in Compliance and Corporate Best Practices at Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile, further strengthening her expertise in governance, ethics, and compliance.

Beyond her executive responsibilities, Karen is committed to supporting the development of future leaders and advancing the legal profession. She has mentored young professionals through Mujeres Empresarias and Women in Compliance, co-organises the “Más que Compliance” seminar series alongside Women in Compliance and Estado Diario, and completed the Board of Women (BoW G21) program. Her career reflects a combination of strategic leadership, governance excellence, business vision, and commitment to innovation that has earned her recognition as a respected legal and corporate governance leader in Chile.