Georges Santoni Recio

Career

Georges Santoni Recio has worked all his professional career at RV&HB, starting as a law clerk in 1980, becoming a partner in 1990, and then managing partner in 2000, position which he still holds. He has developed a strong practice in foreign investment law, international trade and related matters.​

He is also a practicing litigator, specializing in general civil and commercial litigation. Because of his fluency in English and French, in addition to his native Spanish, Mr. Santoni Recio is especially well qualified to assist foreign clients in their business and litigation matters in the Dominican Republic.​

Santoni has advised multilateral lenders on a variety of structured and corporate finance transactions, including a broad range of financing, M&A, real estate, commercial, government contracts, and project finance. He has also been consulted as an expert witness on Dominican civil law matters on an international arbitration between the Dominican State and a foreign company that holds a State concession on the construction and maintenance of one the major highways of the country. He acted as legal counsel for clients developing renewable energy as well as gold and silver mining projects in the country. He also assisted clients in public tenders.

Professional Memberships

Dominican Bar Association.

The International Association of Lawyers.

Board of Directors of the Center for Research and Study of Business Law.

Dominican Association of Business Lawyers.

Institutionally and Justice Foundation, Inc. (FINJUS).

Board of Directors of the Acción para la Educación Básica, Inc. (EDUCA) – dedicated to the improvement of public education in the Dominican Republic.

Board of Directors and Coordinator for Latin America of Meritas Law Firms Worldwide.

Board of Directors of the Dominican-French Chamber of Commerce.

American Chamber of Commerce in the Dominican Republic.

Chamber of Commerce and Production of Santo Domingo, Inc.

Arbitrator of the Chamber of Conciliation and Arbitration of the Chamber of Commerce and Production of Santo Domingo, Inc.

Dominican-Panamanian Chamber of Commerce.

Associate Member of the American Bar Association (ABA).

Union Internationale des Avocats (UIA).

Practice Areas

Foreign Investment, Agency and Distribution Law, Commercial Litigation, Dispute Resolution, Arbitration.

Publications

Georges Santoni Recio has written extensively in the fields of agency and distributorship law, foreign investment and companies’ law, including: “Changes in Securities Regulations; Applicability in the Privatization of State-Owned Enterprises,” for Cedempresa Law Review; “Agency and Distribution Agreements in Dominican Republic” Butterworths Treatise; “Le Statut de Protection des Agents et Distributeurs, Revue St. Domingue Affaires,”; the Dominican Chapter for the “International Encyclopedia of Agency and Distribution Agreements”, Co-author of “A practical guide for the incorporation of Dominican companies” for Corporate UK and Globe Law and Business; Co-author of the Dominican Chapter 14 in the thirteenth edition “Mergers and Acquisitions” of The Law Reviews; Latin Lawyer Reference: Labour & Employment 2020; Dominican Republic Country Overview for Chambers & Partners Latin America 2018, among others.

Languages Spoken

English, Spanish and French.