About

Telefónica Colombia’s highly talented in-house legal team made up of 27 lawyers and four support staff continues to impress after its recognition in the GC Powerlist: Colombia Teams in 2017. Led by general counsel Martha Elena Ruiz, the team is composed of leading professionals within their specific fields. It includes head of litigation department Nohora Torres, head of legal department Faride Guerrero, compliance officer Marcela Hernández as well as Camilo Gutierrez who is responsible of the contract area, Olga Lucia Ñañez who is responsible for the business legal support area, María Mercedes Mosquera who is responsible for the corporate area and data protection officer Abdel Yaver. Ruiz identifies that the most important change to the legal team in the last two years was the creation of the compliance area and the designation of the compliance officer. She says that, ‘in order to move forward setting up measures that place the company as a reference of regulatory compliance and best ethical and corporate practices, an independent area of compliance was created, coordinated by the chief compliance officer, that standardises, reinforces and homogenises the current controls. The explicit objective was to create a new compliance culture, with clear features about responsibilities and the definition of key risk of this topic’. In February 2017 the compliance office started operations and since then, has taken measures with the purpose of generating defence mechanisms for the company using the suitable controls and strengthening a culture of consciousness and observance of ethical and legal rules for the fulfilment of its objectives. The team has been involved in many significant transactions including the issuance of company bonds for COL$500m on the Colombian exchange. The legal team was involved in the equity increase that aimed a financial deleveraging, the legal support for the operational integration of the subsidiaries Metrotel and Telebucaramanga, and the structuring, negotiation and execution of the sponsorship agreement of the Bogotá Movistar Arena. Also, during the same period the litigation area achieved a 98.6% positive outcome in judicial decisions earning substantial resources for the company. The team fosters an open working environment in which self-initiative, legal innovation, design thinking, continuous training and new ways of working are always a priority. Ruiz highlights that ‘diversity is the hallmark of Telefónica’s legal department in Colombia. It is not only at the very core of our beliefs but also the very source of our more beloved talent. We encourage such diversity and we require respect for the differences among ourselves. Thus, we rejoice in having people from different backgrounds who may help us to take the best out of our differences and transform it into the betterment of our legal strength. We treasure our women’s leadership in our legal department, a reality of today we are really proud of’.