[Economy] New frontiers: what does the Colombian legal market hold?

[Akrapovic]

Key perspectives on the national agenda that will guide the work of law firms during 2022, according to Brigard Urrutia.

 

 

Adaptability to the unprecedented business, social, governmental and economic dynamics that are settling in the country, together with the new legal frameworks issued, will be the main success factor for law firms by 2022.
If in 2020 uncertainty shook the Colombian legal board and in 2021 the reactivation guided the strategy of many law firms, by 2022 the slogan will be innovation, especially in the scenarios that the covid-19 pandemic proposes.

This is how the Brigard Urrutia firm considers it, which, with the purpose of shedding light on the legal panorama of next year, offers its vision of the main perspectives of the Law for 2022. An analysis by Sergio Michelsen Jaramillo, partner of Brigard Urrutia and lawyer with more than 30 years of experience.

Entrepreneurship and private equity

Article 2 of Law 2112 (promulgated on July 29, 2021) establishes that, at least, three percent (3%) of the resources of the national business fabric must be invested in private equity funds and / or private debt. The latter, in turn, must invest this money in Colombian companies or productive projects in the country.

According to Sergio Michelsen, “the ecosystem of entrepreneurship and venture capital (‘ venture capital ’) has undergone rapid development in recent years, and we are already seeing large private equity funds entering the country. The great opportunity is to make that capital Colombian, so it is important that Colombia develop a group of large funds that understands the 'venture capital' model and encourages development in that sector ”.

Cybersecurity and new technologies

There is no doubt that the pandemic was the “perfect storm” for the digital transformation of companies. However, with technological opportunities come cybersecurity risks and vulnerabilities. Therefore, it is necessary to identify risk fronts in the new technologies adopted (platforms such as Zoom or Teams) and work schemes (for example, remote work), taking into account that obligations such as confidentiality and integrity of the information, as well as policies for the use of IT tools, they were strengthened.

“Companies require risk prevention, reaction and mitigation strategies through measures such as the diagnosis of legal and technological vulnerabilities; the design and implementation of legal and technological policies, procedures and protocols; cyber risk insurance and policies; and training and education for its collaborators ”, advises the Brigard Urrutia partner

Towards a digital state

Finally, the digitization of the processes in the different entities that make up the state apparatus represents ostensible advantages in financial matters. For example, the judicial headquarters of Paloquemao, in Bogotá, has managed to save a total of more than $ 470,000 million in public services, compared to spending in 2019 with the current one in 2021.

However, what is more important, technology has all the potential to be a spearhead in the fight against corruption, streamlining judicial processes and making the service of justice users more flexible. In this regard, lawyer Michelsen affirms that “digitization and the use of new technologies for the administration of justice facilitates decision-making by judges. In addition, it contributes to the fact that individuals have an effective and efficient administration of justice, even in an area such as virtuality ”.

ESG: social and environmental risks

ESG is a term used in contexts related to sustainable finance and impact investing. Often, it is defined as “the process of management and governance of social and environmental risks”, which is why it raises organizations to ask themselves about their role in today's society, or better, their social purpose.

In the words of Sergio Michelsen, partner at Brigard Urrutia, impact investing strengthens social and environmental aspects in the business environment, without excluding the pursuit of financial or economic returns.

“It has had developments in different scenarios of the economy and politics, but it does not have a uniform regulation in the country. Currently, in Colombia there are four common mechanisms to channel impact investment:
1. Impact Investment Funds, properly so called.
2. Contracts for results (also known as BIS - Social Impact Bonds)
3. Bonds issued in the public securities market.
4. Alternative association mechanisms, also called ‘blended finance’, that is, the union of public and private resources to develop projects ”, explains Michelsen.

 

LINK: https://www.portafolio.co/contenido-patrocinado/nuevas-fronteras-que-le-depara-al-mercado-legal-colombiano-557826