Peru´s Lazo, De Romaña joins forces with white-collar crime boutique
Lazo, De Romaña & Gagliuffi Abogados announced the integration of Cortez, Massa & Bello Abogados, a law firm specialised in white collar crime and compliance.
Legacy Lazo, De Romaña & Gagliuffi was founded in 2008 and initially focused on banking, finance, capital markets and M&A. It later expanded to cover natural resources, tax and arbitration. Legacy Cortez, Massa & Bello Abogados has over 20 years in the Peruvian market.
The merged law firm, operating as Lazo, De Romaña & CMB Abogados, now has 10 partners and 48 associates. The move comes amid a widespread perception of a tougher anti-corruption attitude from the Peruvian goverment with a new law coming into effect on January 2017 which will hold corporations strictly liable for committing transnational bribery.
With the new law, Peruvian law firms expect an uptick of opportunities in corporate governance and criminal compliance and many have already increased the headcount of related practice groups. Earlier this year, Rodrigo, Elías & Medrano hired José Luis Medina, formerly with the High-Level Anticorruption Commission (“CAN-Anticorrupción”) to boost the firm’s compliance group while Rebaza, Alcázar & De Las Casas added Loli & García Cavero Abogados, a white-collar crime boutique.
