The New Compliance Landscape in Latin America, and Its Practical Impact

Enrique Roman Chavez is the Legal Manager of Compliance at Pemex.

Alejandra Montenegro Almonte's practice focuses on the area of international regulatory compliance and enforcement across a variety of areas, including anti-corruption and economic sanctions. Her experience on regulatory matters is multifaceted and includes internal investigations, voluntary disclosures, risk assessments, compliance program development, trainings, and audits. She has represented multinational companies before various government agencies, including the Department of Justice (DOJ), the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), and the Office of Foreign Asset Controls (OFAC). Ms. Montenegro Almonte is a native Spanish-speaker and regularly conducts legal matters in both English and Spanish.

Before joining Miller & Chevalier, Ms. Montenegro Almonte was General Counsel for the North American and Latin American Division of gategroup, a global provider of products, services, and solutions related to the onboard experience of airline and rail passengers. In that role, she oversaw all legal affairs for eight of gategroup's subsidiaries and was the strategic advisor to the senior and executive management teams of the United States, Canada, and Latin America on all legal and regulatory matters arising in North America and Latin America, including regulatory, compliance, litigation, and transactional matters. While at gategroup, Ms. Montenegro Almonte developed and implemented compliance programs across her Division, including on corruption and economic sanctions. As Chair of gategroup's North American and Latin American Business Compliance Committees, she led a cross-functional management team to proactively manage compliance matters across the Americas.

Prior to joining gategroup, Ms. Montenegro Almonte was a litigation associate at two Am Law 100 firms. While at Harvard Law School, she served as president of the Harvard Legal Aid Bureau.

Ms. Montenegro Almonte is a frequent speaker on compliance and litigation issues at national and international conferences, including the American Conference Institute (ACI) and American Bar Association (ABA).

Recaredo Romero is Kroll’s regional managing director for Latin America. He has management responsibility for Kroll’s offices in Miami, S?o Paulo, Mexico D.F., Bogot?, Buenos Aires and St. George’s (Grenada).

With more than 15 years of investigative and risk management experience, Recaredo assists clients to mitigate a wide range of fraud and corruption risks and to respond to compliance breaches and integrity incidents; he also provides extensive dispute advisory support. Recaredo has led diverse engagements advising clients on pre-transaction due diligence and compliance programs. In addition, he has managed and executed numerous cross-border investigations on commercial bribery, FCPA violations and corporate misconduct for local and international clients, often working closely with external legal counsel.

Recaredo joined Kroll from a leading risk consultancy where he served as practice leader of the Corporate Investigations Group. In this role, he oversaw all investigative work across the Andean region and led complex investigations for local and international clients. He also has significant expertise in political risk analysis and has consulted extensively to the public and private sector.

Latin America media outlets regularly seek Recaredo’s perspectives on fraud, corruption and integrity issues. He has also served as a guest speaker on a number of topics for various investment and professional groups.

Elizabeth Heurtematte is a Founding Partner at Lovill.

She advises local and international companies in the development of real estate projects, in the elaboration of contracts for the purchase and sale of companies of great importance at the national level; In due diligence, in the processing of mining and power generation concessions and related regulatory issues; In the elaboration of financing agreements and approvals to regulators, in the elaboration of opinions related to the securities laws and banking laws in Panama.

In corporate restructuring and strategies for corporate tax optimization; And in matters of heritage protection, private interest foundations, trusts, wills, legacies and other fiduciary issues. Elizabeth holds a Master’s Degree in Law and Administration from INIDEM Business School in Panama, Bachelor of Law and Political Science from Columbus University in Panama, obtained her Doctorate in Law from Northwestern University School of Law and a Bachelor’s Degree in International Relations and Latin American Studies from George Washington University.

Likewise, she is an adviser to multinational companies whose objectives are to establish in Panama and support in the processing of all the corresponding permits and contracts; Of hotels and casinos in the locality in operative, regulatory and fiscal subjects. She is a member of the Panama Bar Association. She was recognized as a Lead Attorney by Chambers & Partners in her global and Latin American edition.

She is a Fellow of the Central American Leadership Initiative (Aspen Institute). She is a member of Women Corporate Directors Panama and Executive Forum. She is the Director of the following organizations: Contemporary Museum of Panama; The International School of Panama; And ADESVA (a non-profit organization that works for the sustainable development of El Valle de Ant?n), Fundaci?n Heurtematte (a non-profit organization dedicated to promoting the arts, education and social development to less privileged communities in Panama); President of Isthmian Investment (Family Office with investments in real estate and operator of financial transactions in Panama and abroad); And Hacienda San Jos? S.A. (Livestock, agricultural and reforestation farm that operates in Pacora, Panama).

Jose Martin uses experience gained from more than 13 years as an in-house compliance and corporate counsel for major international corporations to advise clients in anticorruption and Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA) enforcement matters, compliance program design and implementation, internal investigations and training. He also represents clients in corporate and commercial, and mergers and acquisitions law. Jose also advises clients on labor and employment laws, with an emphasis in Mexico and Latin America.

Prior to joining the firm, Jose most recently served as Director of Compliance – Americas at Starwood Hotels and Resorts Worldwide, Inc. While there, he oversaw legal compliance-related projects and training for more than 100 properties in Canada, the US, Mexico, Central America, the Caribbean and French Polynesia.

Jose also served as Associate General Counsel for Pentair Corp, where he managed the Latin American Legal and Compliance Departments. Prior to that, he was Senior Compliance Counsel – Latin American and Caribbean at Tyco International and he also functioned as Deputy General Counsel for Tyco Flow Control, a Tyco business unit, in Latin America, managing all commercial, labor and M&A matters. His previous experience also includes his role as Senior Corporate Counsel and Senior Corporate Compliance Manager at Oracle Corporation during a period of explosive growth where he managed matters including international anticorruption, antiboycott laws and SOX compliance.