Hogan Lovells US LLP

Hogan Lovells US LLP‘s Houston office acts for an impressive roster of Latin American companies, government bodies and sovereign states, with a particularly strong offering in the oil, gas and petrochemicals industries – although the insurance sector is also a key area of expertise – and a focus on Mexico and Ecuador. The team is well versed in the development of energy and infrastructure projects, with expertise spanning project finance, regulatory and contractual issues. Practice head Bruno Ciuffetelli, who is admitted to practise in Venezuela and is a foreign legal consultant with the state of Texas, has an excellent reputation in the oil sector and the sovereigns and quasi-sovereigns sphere (he also heads the Americas Sovereigns practice); alongside the New York and Miami offices, he recently led the team which assisted the Republic of Ecuador with its historic $1.5bn ’debt-for-nature’ swap to advance the Amazon Biocorridor Programme. Carlos Ramos Miranda, who splits his time between the Houston and Mexico City offices, is a go-to name for a wide range of M&A, insurance, infrastructure and energy matters in Latin America, particularly Mexico, with recent highlights including his advice to TC Energy on the negotiation of a new natural gas transportation agreement with Mexico’s state-owned electric utility.