Cristián Francos

Cristián Francos co-moderates a panel on business crime crisis situations in a corporate environment at the International Bar Association's Annual Conference taking place in Mexico City on 15–20 September 2024.

Cristián Francos will be speaking at the 7th Marval Summit on Compliance, Anti-Corruption, and Investigations. Together with renowned speakers and colleagues, he will share experiences on the challenges, developments, and trends in this practice area. 

As part of the IBA's 26th Annual Transnational Crime Conference in Milan, Cristián Francos co-moderates a panel dissecting the intricate landscape of subsidies fraud in the aftermath of the Covid-19 pandemic.

Cristian Francos will moderate a panel at the inaugural IBA Arbitration and Criminal Law Conference. 

Cristián Francos moderated a panel exploring the growing trend to arbitrate disputes emerging from compliance investigations related to potential criminal conduct and will discuss the varying ways national courts review and accept any arbitral decisions in this area.

Partner Cristián Francos will co-chair a session on trends in global sanctions enforcement at the International Bar Association's 25th Annual Transnational Crime Conference.

Cristián Francos discussed the operation of Money Service Businesses without a license, US government enforcement and prosecution, and the impact for local financial actors.

Cristián Francos is Senior Vice Chair of the IBA’s Business Crime Committee and will be co-chairing “The transfer of criminal liability in M&A” session on November 3rd.

The U.S. Senate joined the House of Representatives and passed the 2021 National Defense Authorization Act, a defense spending bill, which included the Corporate Transparency Act (the “Act”).  That Act sets forth an expansion for the disclosure requirements for certain US and non-US companies doing business in the United States. 

The health effects of Covid-19 have created personal tragedies that seemed unimaginable a few short months ago. Despite the efforts of governments, the virus has shown that the world is inextricably interconnected. How we respond will dictate whether that interconnectedness is a positive or negative force as we try to recover from the economic crisis that has arisen in the wake of the pandemic. In Latin America, individuals and companies have either begun to see, or fear, the return of currency controls, defaults and chaos as the governments of the region confront historic challenges. Many have once again sought refuge in the perceived relative safety of the U.S. financial system. However, investors may find that their sudden search for a safe haven may bring on a series of unanticipated problems.

There is a popular misconception that asset forfeiture is limited to the luxury cars, private jets and speedboats of drug dealers, but many well-meaning businesses and individuals are finding themselves with their assets seized under statutes that provide U.S. authorities extremely broad powers. And these seizures often occur without any warning to, or even accusation against, the owner of the assets. Once seized it can take years to obtain recovery of perfectly legal assets. In these uncertain times, as many well-meaning people seek the relative safety of the U.S. banking system, individuals and companies in many countries may innocently use money-transfer systems that exponentially increase the risk of having their assets seized. Why does this happen and how can it be avoided?

In these tough times, when clients are looking to protect assets and increase revenue, it is more important than ever to ensure that their arbitral awards are collectible. A truly successful outcome requires the ability to enforce and monetize the award that was won in the arbitration. When faced with a recalcitrant award debtor, it is imperative to think strategically and work closely with counsel and experts to enforce and identify recoverable assets.

Cristián Francos lectured on FCPA principles at the University of Buenos Aires School of Law’s Masters program in Criminal Law, Corporate Criminal Liability and Compliance section.  

Lewis Baach Kaufmann Middlemiss partner Cristián Francos spoke at ACI's Anti-Corruption Compliance for High Risk Markets conference on July 24, 2019 in Washington, D.C.

Cristián Francos served as Organising Committee Head for the 22nd Transnational Crime Conference in Buenos Aires. 

Many people outside of Argentina, as well as those within, have watched in wonder as the explosive investigation of the Cuadernos case evolves and touches upon more and more individuals and companies. Recent experience has taught us that investigations of this magnitude are never contained within a country’s borders and individuals and companies that have done, or are doing, business in Argentina must consider the civil and criminal ramifications of the growing corruption scandal regardless of their own culpability.  

The increasing global focus on corruption has led to stronger international cooperation and coordination among regulators, resulting in landmark enforcement actions in new jurisdictions. [...] This panel offered private and public sector prespectives on the latest enforcement trends, the key elements of the new anti-corruption laws, and what all this means for businesses and individuals involved in transnational corruption cases.

Authored by Eric L. Lewis, Manuel S. Varela and Cristían Francos.

Authored by Eric L. Lewis, Manuel S. Varela and Cristián Francos.

Presented by Eric L. Lewis, Manuel S. Varela & Cristián Francos.

Global Investigations Review has ranked LBKM as one of the world’s leading firms for cross-border investigations.

The Engel List was designed as a critical foreign policy tool to identify and target individuals believed to be involved in corruption and actions undermining democratic institutions in Central America. While the List serves an important role in identifying the individuals responsible for corrupt practices in Central America, like many U.S. “lists,” it presents significant challenges from a due process perspective.

Lewis Baach Kaufmann Middlemiss made its debut this year in Chambers’ annual Latin America Guide, ranking as a leading international firm in the Corporate Crime & Investigations practice area.

LBKM is the only boutique firm to be so ranked.

Cristián Francos was quoted in an article discussing the frameworks used in many Western countries to provide compensation to overseas victims of economic crime.

Who's Who Legal (WWL) has again recognized Cristián Francos as a global leader in the field of investigations. WWL highlights lawyers at the forefront of the investigations field, spanning white-collar crime, corporate compliance and regulatory enforcement.

LBKM filed an amicus brief in support of the Republic of Argentina with the United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit in Petersen v. Argentina and a related appeal. LBKM represented OFEPHI, an organization of ten Argentine provinces, arguing that the district court misconstrued Argentina's expropriation law, and that complex questions of Argentine law should be left to Argentine courts.

Cristián Francos, partner at Lewis Baach Kaufmann Middlemiss and head of the firm’s Latin America practice, has again been recognized by Who's Who Legal as a global leader in the field of investigations.

The International Bar Association (IBA) has appointed partner Cristián Francos as Co-Chair of its Business Crime Committee for a two-year term.

El Departamento de Justicia de los Estados Unidos colocó en el ojo público la actividad de transferencia de dólares sin licencia habilitante en los Estados Unidos. Las repercusiones para la industria financiera de Uruguay fueron tratadas por Cristián Francos y Jean-Jacques Bragard Cooper en el siguiente artículo publicado en el diario El Observador.

En una demanda por confiscación de fondos presentada ante una corte del Distrito Sur de Nueva York, los fiscales estadounidenses explicaron porqué el movimiento de esos dólares en su entrada y paso por el país norteamericano sería ilegal.

According to U.S. authorities, the U.S.-based activities of “blue dollar peso exchangers” are illegal, and those exchangers that maintain U.S. bank accounts are subject to asset forfeiture and criminal prosecution. The recent U.S. forfeiture case brought by U.S. authorities in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York against Partners Capital Investment (“PCI”) illustrates intense interest by U.S. authorities in the “blue dollar peso exchange,” and additional U.S. actions should be expected. 

Cristián Francos has again been recognized as a global leader in the field of investigations by Who’s Who Legal in its Investigations: 2022 guide.

Arthur Middlemiss and Cristián Francos secured the return of all funds seized by the U.S. Department of Justice from U.S. accounts maintained by two broker-dealers based in Uruguay and New Zealand, respectively, both of which operated in Argentina. 

On December 9, 2021, the Biden administration published the first-ever United States Strategy on Countering Corruption. This Strategy sets forth a “whole-of-government” approach to combating corruption in the United States and around the world. Individuals and entities should expect an increase in sanctions and scrutiny of activities that present high corruption-related risk. As such, companies and individuals should immediately review current business activities to ensure that they understand their exposure to corruption-related risk and have in place commensurate controls to deter and detect potential problems. A proactive approach to corruption risk now will provide material future benefits if the expected increase in regulatory and law enforcement scrutiny results in a corruption-related inquiry.

LBKM partner Cristián Francos has been appointed as Senior Vice Chair of the IBA’s Business Crime Committee.

Cristián Francos been recognized as a Global Leader in Who’s Who Legal: Investigations 2021.  Who’s Who Legal is one of the world’s leading directories of legal practitioners.

Mr. Truppel was sentenced in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York to time served, with no supervisory probation or fine imposed, and was allowed to return to Argentina.

Partner Cristián Francos was highlighted by Global Investigations Review as a lawyer of note and a member of Argentina's investigations bar.

An amended complaint filed in Miami-Dade County alleges that Amicorp, an international trust services company, actively participated in a multi-million-dollar real estate fraud which victimized many Latin American families. 

Partners Manuel Varela and Cristián Francos authored a paper on the Argentine Notebooks investigation which was quoted in Argentina’s La Nación.

Mr. Francos was quoted in the article saying, “If someone received a bribe, then someone had to have paid the bribe,” he said. “Companies should be well prepared [to be investigated].”  He continued to say, many Argentinian companies that are contracted by the state do not have established policies in terms of compliance and integrity, and will likely rush to put together new compliance programmes. Francos said “this shock could be good” to improve standards quickly.  “This [scenario] creates a problem for companies, but also an opportunity that will bring change to Argentina’s business culture,” he said.

En Lewis Baach Kaufmann Middlemiss asesoran a clientes internacionales en litigios también internacionales, investigaciones y compliance. "Nuestra práctica trasciende las fronteras de los Estados Unidos permanentemente. En mi caso, me dedico a asesorar clientes latinoamericanos respecto de sus necesidades legales en los Estados Unidos", dice Cristian Francos, socio de la firma y su cara en la Argentina.

Manuel Varela and Cristián Francos were interviewed by AUNO legal magazine on Litigation Funding

Manuel Varela y Cristián Francos fueron entrevistados por la revista legal AUNO respecto del financiamiento de litigios

Mr. Francos is quoted in the article.

Mr. Francos is a contributing author.

Mr. Francos is mentioned in the article.

AUNO Abogados magazine interview with Manuel Varela and Cristián Francos on Lewis Baach’s practice for clients in Argentina and the rest of Latin America. 

Ariel Neuman, Natalia Alonso and Alfredo Veronesi, reporters from AUNO Legal Magazine, interviewed Manuel Varela and Cristián Francos regarding the Lewis Baach PLLC Latin American practice and it's Buenos Aires office as well as the careers of  Messrs. Varela and Francos.