BUSTAMANTE FABARA

(The following information was supplied by the firm)

Firm Overview:

BUSTAMANTE FABARA, boasting a legal track record of more than 68 years, is renowned for setting the standard in legal services across Ecuador and Latin America. Our dynamic team, compromised of over 125 skilled multidisciplinary attorneys and a dedicated staff of more than 185 professionals, offers extensive and consistent legal and accounting solutions across 24 diverse practice area. We pride ourselveson our global reach, catering to the needs of clients both in the local sphere and internationally, with a network of correspondents spanning the globe.

We are proud to be the sole full-service law firm in Ecuador that boasts equal gender representation in our management team. Although the roles of President and CEO are occupied by men, The positions of Managing Partner and Administrative Manager are held by woman. Of total our collaborators 24% are female Partners, 47% are female Directors and 49% are female lawyers.

Managing Partner: María Rosa Fabara

Chairman: José Rafael Bustamante Espinosa

Partners: Diego Ramírez Mesec, Francisco Vacas Dávila, María Clara Bustamante, Josémaría Bustamante, José Rafael Bustamante Crespo, Francisco Bustamante Luna, Juan Carlos Bustamante, Juan Felipe Bustamante, Mariana Villagómez, Rafael Valdivieso, Jesús Beltrán, Patricia Ponce, Hugo García, Ricardo Menéndez.

Number of lawyers worldwide: +125

Languages: Spanish, English

Practice Area Expertise:

Banking and Finance:

Vast experience in providing all legal services required by banks, financial institutions, as well as in the fiduciary stock market field.

Competition:

The service provided in this area focuses mainly on legal and economic advice, the performance of due diligence to identify opportunities for improvement and adapt the activities of the company to the new legal regime in force in Ecuador since October 2011, advice on mergers and formulation of mandatory notifications to the Superintendence of Market Power Control, and legal advice and representation in processes initiated by the Superintendence of Market Power Control.

Corporate:

It constitutes one of the fundamental nucleus of our activity. It covers the whole range of business, financial and mercantile transactions that a company must carry out in the normal development of its functions. The advice we provide to companies is distinguished by the extensive experience of our lawyers in the real world of business. This experience allows us to understand the need to solve our clients’ problems in a complete and fast way. We advise on the conditions, legal requirements and opportunities for foreign investment in Ecuador. Our objective is the protection of our clients’ investment. To accomplish this, we ensure that the client takes the appropriate steps to obtain the highest return with the lowest risk.

Commercial:

We handle various issues related to the drafting of contracts and contractual negotiation. Our lawyers have vast experience in desing contracts that the best protect the interests of our clients. The experience of BUSTAMANTE FABARA includes advising on the commercial consequences of the stipulations of any contract, as well as the negotiation of final clauses.

Litigation and Dispute Resolution:

BUSTAMANTE FABARA has the necessary infrastructure and the experience of the professionals of the area, to initiate or to face judicial or arbitral actions before the diverse courts of the Republic, in all the branches of the law.

Energy, Natural Resources and Mining:

For several years we have advising several multinational companies in the oil, mining and energy fields. We meet their legal needs before the respective regulatory bodies and defend their interests against public and private interference. We carry out a detailed monitoring of the business possibilities, new projects, privatizations, etc., that may arise throughout the liberalization process that these sectors live today in Ecuador and we keep our clients permanentely informed about their development.

Intellectual Property:

The firm has a division specialized in advising and attending to all aspects related to the protection of intellectual property rights and new technologies. In these aspects represents and is responsible for the protection of intellectual property rights of natural or legal persons, national or foreign, in Ecuador and other countries. The team are memebers of different national and international associations, especially for the protection of intelectually property rights, such as “International Trademark Association” (INTA), “International Association for the Protection of Industrial Property” (AIPPI), “American Intellectual Property Law Association” (AIPLA), European Communities Trademark Association (ECTA), The Interamerican Association for the Industrial Property (ASIPI), Licensing Property Excutive Society Colombia/Ecuador/Perú (LES). This allows the members of the firm ti be fully informes about the situation of Intellectual Property in others countries which has been a propitious opportunity to establish close relationships with lawyers and intellectual property agents around the world, with whose firms several correspondents are maintained.

Labor:

We are aware of the sensitivy of this matter in business development, so we advise our clients with the aim of optimizing the maximum business resources in this area.

Public Law, Public Procurement & Concessions:

BUSTAMANTE FABARA has established as one of its main objectives the achievement of the highest level of specialized legal advice demanded by the particularity of relations with the Public Administration. We are aware that the possibility of carrying out the desired activity will frequently depend on the adequate articulation of this work. We are able to provide our clients with the support they need for the good end of their relations with the public authorities and thus guarantee the best defense of their interests. The members of BUSTAMANTE FABARA have extensive experience in the negotiation of public contracts, and in participating in pre-contractual and contractual processes, representing both individuals and the Ecuadorian State, which allows them to be more effective in defending and protecting the interests of their clients.

Real Estate:

The main objetive of BUSTAMANTA FABARA is creating the Real Estate Division is to fully develop the concept of Real Estate Management, which is summarized in comprehensive legal advice, so that all the processes required in the implementation, development and liquidation of a real Estate Project, ocurr in a timely, organized and efficient.

Tax:

The legal practuce of the tax area has merged with the accounting and finacial practice to offer our clients comprehensive advice. The professionals that make up the tax area are lawyers specialized in tax and business law; fiancial accountants with expertise in accounting, intenational financial reporting standars (IFRS) and transfer pricing.