Career Biography

Ms. Ana Suarez Garnelo is Group General Counsel at Intrum Spain, where she is also a member of the Executive Committee and Secretary of the Board of Directors and its delegated committees. From this role, she plays a key part in the company’s strategic governance, contributing to a strong legal perspective combined with a deep understanding of business, operations, efficiency, and compliance.

She has extensive experience in Private Equity and complex corporate transactions, including large acquisitions, corporate M&A operations, the negotiation of new real estate and NPL servicing contracts, and the issuance and refinancing of non‑domestic debt. She is a key contributor to major corporate projects of the Intrum Group in Spain and is actively involved in high‑level negotiations, governance processes and management presentations.

Ana is particularly recognised for her expertise in complex contractual negotiations, corporate restructuring projects, and sophisticated arbitration and litigation proceedings. As a long‑standing member of the Executive Committee, she brings a cross‑functional, business‑oriented approach that goes beyond traditional legal advice, with a strong service mindset and a clear focus on supporting profitable and sustainable client relationships.

She has a proven track record in transformation and restructuring initiatives, contributing not only from a legal standpoint but also in terms of process optimisation and operational efficiency.

Prior to joining Intrum, she served as General Counsel at Haya Real Estate, where she played a key role in the company’s development and strategic positioning within the Real Estate and NPL servicing market. Earlier in her career, she spent approximately ten years in private practice at Landwell (PwC) in Madrid, advising domestic and multinational groups on complex corporate and M&A transactions, due diligence processes and high‑end commercial matters.

What are the most significant cases, projects or transactions that the legal team has recently been involved in?

Over the past year, the legal team has been involved in a number of complex and strategically significant matters linked to corporate restructuring, financing, servicing activity and commercial strategy within the Real Estate and NPL sector. The team is structured to mitigate risk while actively supporting business and operations, combining strong technical expertise with deep sector knowledge.

One of the most relevant projects was the legal leadership and coordination of the merger of the three main companies of the Spanish group, carried out under the recently amended Spanish Merger and Structural Modifications Law. The legal department led all legal aspects of the process and acted as a central coordination point across finance, compliance, operations, business and communications teams. This restructuring was a key efficiency-driven project following several years of intensive M&A activity, streamlining processes and avoiding operational duplicities.

The team has also played a key role in supporting Intrum Group’s debt restructuring processes at both local and European level, as well as in the negotiation and implementation of servicing contracts for significant NPL portfolios acquired by the Group. This includes servicing agreements linked to securitisation structures and the extension of long-term servicing contracts with major Spanish financial institutions.

In parallel, the legal department has advised on co-investment transactions with private equity funds, complex contractual negotiations with financial institutions and investment funds, major commercial renegotiations, and the initiation of significant litigation matters arising from contractual disputes. The team has also supported the organisation in adapting its activities to recent regulatory changes, including Organic Law 1/2025 on the efficiency of the public justice service.

How does the legal team contribute to the overall business strategy of the company? Can you share an example of a recent legal-led initiative that had a significant impact?

The legal team is fully embedded in the organisation’s strategic and operational decision-making. Its contribution goes beyond legal risk management, bringing a cross-functional perspective that integrates legal, commercial, operational, efficiency and compliance considerations.

A clear example of this strategic role was the legal-led coordination of the merger of the main Spanish entities within the Group. In addition to leading the legal work, the team coordinated multiple internal areas to align legal execution with business objectives, operational needs, and agreed timelines. The result was a simplified corporate structure with improved governance and tangible efficiency gains, directly supporting the company’s strategic priorities.

More broadly, the legal department works closely with commercial and operational teams to structure servicing contracts, renegotiate key agreements and support long-term client relationships, with a strong focus on profitability and sustainability. Legal advice is delivered in a pragmatic and solutions-oriented manner, enabling informed decision-making and facilitating execution rather than acting as a bottleneck.

This approach positions the legal function as an enabler of strategy, transformation and value creation across the organisation.

From your perspective, what legal or business trends over the past 12 months have had the most tangible impact on the role of the legal team? Are there specific regulatory developments, at Spanish or EU level, that other in-house teams should be paying closer attention to?

Over the past 12 months, one of the most tangible trends impacting the role of the legal team has been the increasing pressure to combine regulatory compliance with operational efficiency and business execution. In highly regulated sectors such as Real Estate and Banking and Finance, legal teams are expected not only to ensure compliance, but also to actively support restructuring, transformation and growth initiatives.

From a regulatory perspective, recent developments in Spain have required a significant adaptation of internal processes. In particular, the entry into force of Organic Law 1/2025 on measures to improve the efficiency of the public justice service has had a direct impact on how disputes are approached and managed. The legal team has played a key role in helping the organisation adjust its contractual strategies, litigation management and internal procedures to this new framework, with a strong focus on prevention and efficiency.

At a business level, the continued evolution of the NPL and Real Estate markets has increased the complexity of servicing contracts, co-investment structures and long-term relationships with financial institutions and investment funds. This has reinforced the need for legal teams with deep sector knowledge, working closely with commercial and operational areas.

Overall, these trends have strengthened the role of the legal team as a strategic and operational partner to the business, focused on enabling decision-making, mitigating risk and supporting sustainable value creation.