2014 LALSA Conference - Friday, January 31, 2014
LALSA is proud to announce its 19th Annual Conference, “Making It in Latin America”, on Friday, January 31, 2014 at Penn Law. This year’s LALSA Conference will explore the potential benefits and drawbacks to doing business in Latin America. We are very excited to announce that our Keynote Speaker is Gustavo Arnavat, the United States Executive Director of the Inter-American Development Bank and a Penn Law Alumnus.
In addition to the Keynote, the conference will address opportunities in Latin America through two panel discussions. Our first panel, Is Latin America the Next Frontier for Top 250 Law Firms?, will feature individuals discussing multinational law firm expansion into this emerging market. The second panel, Essential Tips for Doing Business in Latin America, will examine various factors one should consider before launching operations in the region. The Conference will take place in Silverman Hall on the afternoon of Friday, January 31, 2014.
In addition to the Keynote, the conference will address opportunities in Latin America through two panel discussions. Our first panel, Is Latin America the Next Frontier for Top 250 Law Firms?, will feature individuals discussing multinational law firm expansion into this emerging market. The second panel, Essential Tips for Doing Business in Latin America, will examine various factors one should consider before launching operations in the region. The Conference will take place in Silverman Hall on the afternoon of Friday, January 31, 2014.
Keynote Speaker - Gustavo Arnavat
The Honorable Gustavo Arnavat L'91 was nominated by President Barack Obama and confirmed unanimously by the Senate in November 2009 to represent the United States on the Executive Board of the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB). He also serves on the Board of Directors of the Inter-American Investment Corporation and on the Donors' Committee of the Multilateral Investment Fund, both affiliates of the IDB. As the US ED for the IDB, he is a senior member of the Treasury Department's International Affairs team.
The IDB is the largest source of multilateral funding for Latin America and the Caribbean, and the US is the largest shareholder, with over 30% of the bank's voting capital. Since its founding in 1959, the IDB has invested over $200 billion in the region. The Board of Executive Directors is responsible for day-to-day oversight of the IDB's management, credit decisions and operations, including the approval of all loans, grants and technical assistance programs, as well as all bank policies. Mr. Arnavat led the negotiations within the IDB's Board that succeeded in securing the largest capital increase in the bank's history, resulting in a near doubling of the IDB's annual lending capacity and adoption of fundamental operational and financial management reforms.
Mr. Arnavat has over two decades of international legal and banking experience. Prior to joining the Obama Administration, he was a Director and Senior Legal Counsel at the Citi Private Bank in New York, where he was Legal Co-Head of the Latin America market region. At Citi, he managed a wide range of legal, regulatory and policy issues relating to banking, investment management and brokerage services. He began his legal career with the firm of Cleary Gottlieb Steen & Hamilton where he advised US and European banks, as well as Latin American companies and governments, on numerous international capital markets and other financial transactions. As a an investment banker at Morgan Stanley, he focused on the origination and execution of equity and fixed income public offerings and private placements by Latin American issuers, and provided strategic advice relating to M&A transactions and joint ventures.
Prior to attending law school, Mr. Arnavat was a Presidential Management Fellow at the White House (National Security Council), the State Department and the Department of Justice.
During the 2008 Presidential campaign, he was a member of the Obama for America National Leadership Council and advised senior campaign officials on Latin America policy. Following the election, he served on the Obama-Biden Transition Team in Washington, D.C.
Poder Hispanic magazine named Mr. Arnavat one of "The Nation's 100 Most Influential Hispanics" in 2011. Mr. Arnavat received a B.A., cum laude, from Cornell University, an M.P.P. degree from the Harvard Kennedy School of Government, where he was a Sloan Foundation Fellow, and a J.D. from the University Of Pennsylvania School Of Law, where he was an editor of the University of Pennsylvania Law Review.
The IDB is the largest source of multilateral funding for Latin America and the Caribbean, and the US is the largest shareholder, with over 30% of the bank's voting capital. Since its founding in 1959, the IDB has invested over $200 billion in the region. The Board of Executive Directors is responsible for day-to-day oversight of the IDB's management, credit decisions and operations, including the approval of all loans, grants and technical assistance programs, as well as all bank policies. Mr. Arnavat led the negotiations within the IDB's Board that succeeded in securing the largest capital increase in the bank's history, resulting in a near doubling of the IDB's annual lending capacity and adoption of fundamental operational and financial management reforms.
Mr. Arnavat has over two decades of international legal and banking experience. Prior to joining the Obama Administration, he was a Director and Senior Legal Counsel at the Citi Private Bank in New York, where he was Legal Co-Head of the Latin America market region. At Citi, he managed a wide range of legal, regulatory and policy issues relating to banking, investment management and brokerage services. He began his legal career with the firm of Cleary Gottlieb Steen & Hamilton where he advised US and European banks, as well as Latin American companies and governments, on numerous international capital markets and other financial transactions. As a an investment banker at Morgan Stanley, he focused on the origination and execution of equity and fixed income public offerings and private placements by Latin American issuers, and provided strategic advice relating to M&A transactions and joint ventures.
Prior to attending law school, Mr. Arnavat was a Presidential Management Fellow at the White House (National Security Council), the State Department and the Department of Justice.
During the 2008 Presidential campaign, he was a member of the Obama for America National Leadership Council and advised senior campaign officials on Latin America policy. Following the election, he served on the Obama-Biden Transition Team in Washington, D.C.
Poder Hispanic magazine named Mr. Arnavat one of "The Nation's 100 Most Influential Hispanics" in 2011. Mr. Arnavat received a B.A., cum laude, from Cornell University, an M.P.P. degree from the Harvard Kennedy School of Government, where he was a Sloan Foundation Fellow, and a J.D. from the University Of Pennsylvania School Of Law, where he was an editor of the University of Pennsylvania Law Review.
