Icaza, González-Ruiz & Alemán

Partners: Gabriel González-Ruiz, Michelle de de la Guardia, Domingo Díaz S, Mariano Oteiza Icaza, Álvaro Alemán Healy, Gabriela Tejada de Britton, Joaquín Díaz, Alexis Herrera Jr, Luis Chalhoub, Ana Graciela Medina, Javier J. Vallarino, Mariela de la Guardia Oteiza, Mariano Oteiza Díaz, Marisol T. Ellis, Carlos E. Villalobos, Moisés Iván Rivera and Alfredo Fonseca.

Counsels: Juan A Tejada M, Alexis V Herrera V, Vasco Wendehake, Nora Jurado, Francisco González-Ruiz, Joel Medina, and Roberto Alemán.

Number of associates: 14

Firm Overview:

Icaza, González-Ruiz & Alemán merges tradition and vision to provide practical legal solutions and deliver outstanding results to corporate and private clients worldwide.

Since its inception in 1920, its experts have been involved in some of the most pivotal milestones in Panama's legal history, contributing to the country's regulatory framework. Today, it transcends borders through its international offices in key strategic locations in South America, Europe, Asia, and the Caribbean.

Its performance is further strengthened by Icaza Trust Corporation (ITC), licensed in Panama for the provision of fiduciary services; an initiative born in response to the changing market and the sophistication of its clients' demands.

Main Areas of Practice:

The firm offers legal services encompassing all areas, including:

■ Administrative Law

■ Admiralty & Shipping Law

■ Banking & Finance

■ Capital Markets & Securitisation

■ Communications & Information Technology (CIT)

■ Company Formation

■ Corporate Law

■ Consumer Protection & Competition law

■ Environmental Law & Energy

■ Immigration & Naturalisation

■ Labour Law

■ Insurance & Reinsurance

■ Intellectual Property

■ International Commerce

■ Litigation & Alternative Dispute Resolution

■ Mergers & Acquisitions

■ Private Foundations

■ Public Contracts & Privatisations

■ Taxation

■ Trust & Estate Planning

For more than a decade, Icaza, González-Ruiz & Alemán has provided legal advice to Panama’s government and International corporations for project finance transactions, helping them in operations such as the sale of accounts receivable to banks, obtaining loans, and the issuance of bonds. Recent work highlights include legal advice provided to (i) HPH Consortium in the financing of Line III of the Panama Metro system valued at US$2 billion (ii) Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corporation and Natixis in the loan for the construction of a gas plant in Colon for approximately US$1 billion (iii) Empresa Nacional de Autopista (ENA), S.A. in a public offering of US$400 million Senior Secured Notes due 2048, and (iv) Metro de Panamá, S.A. (Panama’s subway company) in the refinancing and deferral of payment for the total sum of US$526 million.

In like manner, the firm has participated in multiple important M&A transactions, recently providing legal counsel to (i) AES Panama S.R.L and AES Changuinola S.R.L. in the acquisition of UEP Penonome I, S.R.L. a Panamanian company that built and operated the first wind electrical generation facility in Panama, and (ii) Corporación Favorita (Ecuador) in the process of acquiring through a public offering the majority stakeholding of the second largest supermarket and pharmacy chains in Panama.

The firm’s services extend to a wide range of secured and unsecured financing deals, from debt and equity to structured facilities. It has acted for managers, investors, selling shareholders, issuers, debt providers, and trustees.

The firm has also built a leading Intellectual Property and Brand Protection practice, providing strategies to clients to enforce their rights locally and internationally. Its team has proven expertise in assisting clients in prosecuting and defending their IP rights, offering a complete assessment from their creation and registration, management and licensing agreements. It also protects the client’s IP rights through enforcement by a range of highly successful litigation procedures in both Civil and Criminal Courts, which has made it one of the preferred providers of IP legal services.

In line with today’s demands, the firm engages in the provision of legal advice on e-commerce related matters and has a developing practice on data privacy and protection issues. Furthermore, its service offering continues to grow, providing Branding services with legal advice to entrepreneurs.

Icaza also has one of the preeminent litigation practices and benefits from the wealth of experience and in-depth specialisations of its partners, associates, and paralegal staff. Since its inception, the practice routinely handles complex cases, and its lawyers are qualified to handle a variety of judicial and arbitration proceedings.

Along with the previously detailed services, the firm has vast experience advising multinational companies to establish themselves in Panama and when needed, taking advantage of the different existing special tax regimes. Moreover, it provides advice to these companies and other entities participating in private and public tender processes, some of them involving major in- frastructure projects (e.g. Line 1 and 2 of the Metro of Panama), including those of the Panama Canal Authority (expansion of the Canal). Such services encompasses, without limitation, the negotiation and drafting of the awarded project contracts (e.g. Centennial Bridge and Line 3 of the Metro of Panama) as well as the handling of claims.

With over 100 years in the legal industry, Icaza, González-Ruiz & Alemán celebrates its tradition while adapting to today’s evolving landscape, remaining committed to powering its clients’ projects and protecting their interests.

Languages: English, Spanish, Portuguese, French, Italian, Greek and Chinese.

Clients:

The firm’s clientele includes Fortune 500 companies, high net worth individuals, corporate clients, public and international institutions.