Ramón A. Azpúrua focuses his practice on corporateand cross-border transactions and on ethics and corporate compliance matters as, in addition to his Venezuelan law degree, he is a certified ethics and corporate compliance professional.
Mr. Azpúrua was selected by his peers as one of the top 25 Venezuela-based lawyers under 40 in a survey conducted by LatinLawyer (Volume 3, Issue 4) and as a top lawyer in bankruptcy and insolvency matters (LatinLawyer; Volume 3, Issue 5). He is also listed in Chambers Latin America, Chambers Global, LatinLawyer 250 and The Best Lawyers in Venezuela for his corporate/M&A practice.
Mr. Azpúrua’s practice covers a broad range of Venezuela- and non-Venezuela-based international transactional matters in a wide variety of areas including franchising, technology, maritime, pharmaceuticals, and oil and gas. His experience includes providing assistance in software licensing and development agreements, asset-based financings, project finance, maritime and environmental permitting, franchising, distribution agreements and technology transfers. Mr. Azpúrua’s experience also includes corporate formation, venture financing, mergers and acquisitions, advice on government controls and general commercial contracting. Mr. Azpurua has also assisted clients on compliance training to local personnel and domestic providers, has advised clients in several internal compliance investigations (including anti-bribery and conflicts of interests issues), has conducted third party compliance investigations, and has advised clients on designing and setting up functional compliance programs and on assessing legal and compliance risks with a view to the mitigation of such risks.
Mr. Azpúrua was co-author of the chapter on Venezuela’s environmental law in The International Comparative Guide to Environmental Law from 2004 through 2010 (Global Legal Group), as well as the chapter on Venezuela’s labor and employment law published in International Labor and Employment Law, Volume II, International Labor and Employment Law Committee, Section of Labor and Employment Law, American Bar Association, from 2001 to 2004.
He was a part-time professor in the MBA program of the Universidad Metropolitana de Caracas (legal framework course) and is an international associate of the American Bar Association, a member of the Venezuelan-American Chamber of Commerce and a member of the Society of Corporate Compliance and Ethics.
Representative Experience
• Conducting internal corporate investigations regarding ethics and corporate compliance enforcement.
• Advising on a merger of the local subsidiaries of two major transnational pharmaceutical companies.
• Advising and assisting financial institutions on OFAC fund blockage issues.
• Advising a transnational oil company in negotiations of spot oil purchase agreements and joint venture agreement with the Venezuela-based national oil company.
• Advising a US-based oil company in connection with certain assets and investments in Venezuela as well as in connection with contributions made to Venezuela-based nonprofit organizations.
• Advising clients in the adaptation of corporate compliance policies and procedures to Venezuelan law and to the laws of other jurisdiction of the Latin American region.
• Advising and assisting domestic and transnational clients and law firms in international arbitration (ICSID).
• Representing a transnational pharmaceutical company in the divestment of several lines of oral antibiotic products sold to companies in Colombia, Costa Rica, Ecuador, the Dominican Republic, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Nicaragua, Panamá and Venezuela.
• Serving as Venezuela counsel to a transnational maritime service company involved in a large industrial accident, rendering advice on the relevant commercial, environmental and labor issues under Venezuela law; coordinating the client’s criminal defense lawyers and its directors in Venezuela; and rendering assistance to US counsel in arbitration proceedings conducted abroad.
• Advising a Russia-based oil company in regulatory matters associated with potential investments in the Orinoco Oil Belt.
• Advising a transnational business software company in the restructuring of its local operations to address certain investment protection, tax and exchange controls concerns and issues.
• Representing a transnational plastics company in the acquisition of a local plastic bottle manufacturer in Venezuela.
• Advising a major US-based service provider in the disposition and transfer of its local investments.
• Representing a transnational software developer in the negotiation of licensing and service agreements with governmental entities and private companies in Venezuela.
• Advising clients in the evaluation of legal and corporate compliance risks, and on their mitigation strategies.
• Representing a US-based aircraft and equipment manufacturer in multiple private financings to local companies.
• Participating in the structuring and rescheduling of project financing for companies engaged in petrochemical activities in Venezuela.
• Coordinating the drafting and implementation of uniform phantom stock award plans and other compensation benefit programs put into effect, concurrently, in more than 30 countries in Latin America and the Caribbean.
• Providing legal advice regarding stock and asset purchase transactions, mergers and acquisitions, real estate, exchange control regulations, price control regulations, environmental law, maritime law, and general labor and corporate law, with a strong emphasis on transactional work.
Practices
• Corporate Transactions, Finance & Governance.
• Corporate Compliance and Ethics.
• Environmental, Safety & Health.
• Anticorruption Compliance & Foreign Corrupt Practices Act.
• Real Estate.
