J Vanessa Oquelí de Riera

Practice Areas

Vanessa Oquelí is Managing Partner of García & Bodán Honduras and Regional Director of the Capital Markets practice area of the firm.

Her practice specializes in capital markets, corporate-commercial, finance, aeronautics, energy, tax, and dispute resolution. Throughout the years, she has participated in unprecedented transactions in the country, such as sovereign bonds issues, corporate bond issuance in international markets, credit guarantees for the Republic of Honduras. Her experience also includes structuring the purchase of companies and solar energy projects implemented in Honduras.

Vanessa has been the leading legal adviser to major companies such as United Airlines and Aerovías de Mexico. She has been prominent in major transactions in the country and also participated as counsel in syndicated loans with multinational banks. She has acted as the primary legal advisor to international companies that include specific areas such as aeronautic and finance industry.

She has experience in advising both national and multinational clients in complex corporate transactions that include supervising and conducting due diligences, creating business and tax structures that satisfy clients’ needs and comply with local legislation, among other services related to M&As and corporate work.

Practice areas:

- Corporate-Commercial

- Mergers and Acquisitions

- Banking and Finance

- Aeronautic

- Renewable Energy

- Tax

- Capital Markets

Professional Memberships

- International Bar Association (IBA).

- Member of the Latin American Council of the New York State Bar Association (NYSBA).

- Member of the Legal Committee of the American Chamber of Commerce (AmCham Honduras).

- Member of the Supervisory Board of the American Chamber of Commerce (AmCham Honduras).

Publications

- Editor of ”IBDF European” Publication in the Honduran Corporate and Tax Chapter.

- Contribution in Annual Report of World Bank and the International Finance Corporation “Doing Business”, 2009-2014.

- Contribution in Report of World Bank and the International Finance Corporation “Women, Business and the Law”, 2014.

Work Highlights

- Counseled rendered to the Finance Secretariat of the Government of Honduras in the third issuance of sovereign bonds for the amount of USD 700 million.

- Counseled in due diligence of various renewable energy generation companies in Honduras in order to set the legal basis and feasibility of a purchase option.

- Legal advisor on syndicated loans; legal representative of the lender in a number of syndicated loans for more than USD 200 million each. Counseled to Mexican dairy company Grupo Lala in their acquisition of Eskimo, S.A., Nicaragua’s largest dairy producer. Counsel consisted on the elaboration of a due diligence of Eskimo and its Honduran subsidiary, and legal advice on issues of corporate, commercial, customs, tax, real estate, environmental, antitrust and intellectual property, as well as food safety legislation.

- Counseled to the borrower, Finance Secretariat of Government of Honduras, in a USD 100 million syndicated loan to be granted by several international banks.

- Represented a technology company in contract with the Government of Honduras for the implementation of a system to be issued for confidential state matters.

- Counseled rendered to the Finance Secretariat of the Government of Honduras in the first and second issuance of sovereign bonds for the amount of USD 1 billion.

- Advised the world leader company in the provision of public security and communications systems for military and civil use for clients around the world, in contract with the Government of Honduras.

- Advised Hoteles Hilton Princess de Centroamérica in the granting of important credits from lender Scotiabank El Salvador for infrastructure expansion to consolidate and expand its operations in Central America.

- Counseled United Continental Holdings, Inc. in the merger of the companies United Airlines Inc. and Continental Airlines Inc. in Nicaragua and Honduras, by which United Airlines Inc. was absorbed by Continental Airlines, Inc., and adopted the name United Airlines, Inc.

- Assisted and represented GE Capital, owner of 75% of the Bank of Central America (BAC) in the region for the sale of its participation by USD 1.92 billion. The firm advised General Electric in all local law issues and strategy, including the requirements for the approval of the Superintendent of Banks, corporate structure, time limit for the approval of the transaction and other issues related to credit card issuers regulations.

Languages Spoken

Spanish

English

Education