The launch event took place at the firm’s headquarters in São Paulo, gathering experts from 11 countries for the development of compliance practices in the region
TozziniFreire, a compliance and investigation pioneer that has been practicing in the area since 2006 in Brazil, announces the creation of the Latin American Compliance & Investigation League (LACIL). The initiative involves major players in the field and aims to set up a discussion forum on compliance.
The first meeting of member law firms took place on November 8-9 in São Paulo, gathering eleven countries. Over these two days representatives of law firms from Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Ecuador, Mexico, Paraguay, Peru, Uruguay and Venezuela discussed topics such as governmental investigations, best practices and local trends, corporate governance in internal investigations and how to avoid conflicts, multilateral settlements and international cooperation, the pitfalls of hiring and monitoring third parties in Latin America, global compliance programs and local challenges, and the future role of financial institutions in preventing and fighting corruption.
According to Shin Jae Kim, head of TozziniFreire’s Compliance & Investigation department, in the last five years the Car Wash operation and other task forces, as well as the enactment of Law No. 12,846/2013 (the Brazilian Anti-Corruption Law), have given rise to a hasty development of compliance and investigation practices, and now this wave is reaching neighboring countries. “We are at the front of several topics which until then were barely spoken of,” emphasizes Shin. She adds that the idea for LACIL originated from the need to even out the knowledge gap and practices, since the matters involved are increasingly multijurisdictional. “With LACIL 2018 we initiate a round of annual meetings to discuss the scenario of the sector, besides sharing information and the best practices adopted by Latin America’s law firms,” continues Shin.
Regarding the current Brazilian compliance and investigation landscape, the partner explains that the country has reached a significant maturity level. “Brazil is moving from the so-called Sanctioning Rule of Law to a Consensual one, which aims to reach settlement through preventive measures,” explains the lawyer.
As regards the Latin American scenario, according to TozziniFreire’s Compliance & Investigation partner Giovanni Paolo Falcetta, there are clear signs of significant advances in the last few years. “No doubt there is progress going on, and law firms from countries such as Argentina, Brazil, Colombia and Peru have been showing more autonomy, with their own set of laws and practices; however, there is still a long way to go, and that is why we want to create this hub for sharing information and promoting cooperation between countries,” says Giovanni.
The partner sees another important point in favor of creating LACIL, i.e., the fact that compliance and investigation experience in Brazil presents a model similar to those of other Latin American countries. “We have some countries with limitations, people and cultures relatively alike, and that actually promotes the exchange of experiences and may, in fact, be a first step towards establishing parameters throughout Latin America.”
Check out the participants of this first edition:
Argentina - Allende & Brea
Argentina - Beccar Varela
Argentina - Marval, O'Farrell & Mairal
Bolivia/Uruguay/Ecuador/Paraguay - Ferrere
Brazil - FeldensMadruga
Brazil - Maeda, Ayres & Sarubbi
Brazil - TozziniFreire Advogados
Chile - Carey
Chile - Cariola Díez Pérez-Cotapos
Colombia - Posse Herrera Ruiz
Mexico - Creel, García-Cuéllar, Aiza y Enríquez
Mexico - Galicia Abogados
Mexico - Sánchez Devanny
Paraguay - Gross Brown
Peru - Rodrigo, Elías & Medrano Abogados
Uruguay - Guyer & Regules
Venezuela - D'Empaire Reyna Abogados