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

Over the past twelve months, I have led several high-impact initiatives across Northern South America, focusing on strengthening governance, enabling business growth and mitigating regulatory risk.

A key project involved leading the implementation of an enhanced compliance framework aligned with evolving regional regulatory requirements. I partnered closely with business leadership to ensure the model was risk-based, practical and embedded in commercial decision-making rather than seen as a control function.

My role went beyond legal advisory; I acted as a strategic business partner, translating complex legal risks into actionable business solutions and driving cultural change across teams.

As a result, we significantly reduced exposure in high-risk areas, strengthened internal controls and improved decision-making speed, allowing the business to operate with greater confidence and agility in a challenging regulatory environment.

I also led initiatives focused on strengthening the organisation’s ethics and compliance culture, including the rollout of targeted training programs, leadership engagement strategies and awareness campaigns. My focus was to move beyond formal compliance into building a culture of accountability and trust, where employees feel empowered to raise concerns and make ethical decisions. This contributed to increased engagement with compliance processes, improved transparency and stronger alignment between company values and day-to-day operations.

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

A strong example of how legal can influence business strategy arises in the context of highly sensitive commercial situations involving key client relationships. Companies sometimes face scenarios that, if executed as originally structured, could result in material adverse financial impact while also testing their willingness to challenge an important commercial partner.

In my role as general counsel, I focus on reframing the discussion from a purely legal or defensive position into a broader strategic conversation. Rather than approaching these situations as a binary choice between accepting losses or escalating conflict, I work closely with the business to design a robust, principled strategy that protects the company’s economic interests while preserving long-term client relationships.

This requires balancing legal rigor with commercial judgment, ensuring that our position is well-founded, defensible and aligned with contractual and fairness principles, while also being communicated in a way that maintains trust and openness in the relationship.

Importantly, these situations often involve addressing internal hesitation around taking a firm stance with a key customer. I play a critical role in giving the organisation the confidence to engage constructively yet assertively, demonstrating that protecting the company’s interests and maintaining strong partnerships are not mutually exclusive.

The outcome is typically a materially improved position for the company, achieved without damaging the commercial relationship. More broadly, this reinforces the role of legal as a strategic advisor, capable not only of identifying risk, but also of shaping solutions that enable the business to act with confidence, integrity and long-term perspective.

In which areas does compliance most commonly break down, and how do you address these risks?

Compliance tends to break down, in my experience, in environments where business objectives conflict with regulatory requirements. To be clear, from a purely commercial perspective, companies often find it challenging to navigate regulatory constraints, and when there is no clear and well-defined compliance presence capable of building synergies with operational teams, risks become amplified and, ultimately, materialise.

For this reason, it is essential that legal and compliance requirements are clear, transparent and practical. This enables the legal function to act as a reliable, assertive and business-oriented guide. In turn, it becomes easier to embed a culture in which consulting compliance is a natural and integral part of decision-making at all levels of the organisation.

What major challenges or risks should in-house legal teams be preparing for over the next twelve months?

It is increasingly evident that in-house legal teams will need to navigate a significantly more complex and demanding landscape in the year ahead. The challenges are no longer limited to the pace of regulatory change; they are equally shaped by geopolitical volatility and heightened expectations from regulators, stakeholders and society at large. This environment requires not only clear methodologies and strong organisational discipline, but also a high degree of governance maturity and strategic alignment with the business.

At the same time, the rapid acceleration in the adoption of artificial intelligence introduces both opportunities and risks. Its implementation must be approached with rigor, ensuring robust frameworks that prioritise integrity, accountability and responsible use. In parallel, reputational risk has become more dynamic and immediate, driven not only by underlying exposures, but also by the speed at which issues can escalate in today’s highly transparent and interconnected environment.

Against this backdrop, legal teams must move beyond traditional roles and position themselves at the forefront of the organisation. This requires a forward-looking mindset, strong business acumen and the ability to influence decision-making at the highest levels. In-house counsel are increasingly expected to act as strategic partners, helping organisations navigate uncertainty, uphold integrity and drive sustainable, long-term value.