Salvador Garza Montemayor

BIO

Salvador Garza Montemayor has extensive professional experience focusing his legal practice mainly in all types of business related with the foreign investment in Mexico, including without limitation, on international commercial, corporate, foreign trade-customs and regulatory matters, whereby he advises clients in the “legal compliance” of all their business operations in Mexico.

EDUCATION

• Business Extension and Development Directorate (ITESM); Postgraduate Certificate in Customs Administration (Automotive Industry) (Monterrey, Mexico 2006).
• McGill University, Institute of Comparative Law; Master of Laws (LL.M.), International Business Law (Montreal, Canada 2000).
• Cornell Law School, Université de Paris I (Panthéon-Sorbonne); Summer Program on the U.S. Legal System (Paris, France, 1997).
• Instituto Tecnológico y de Estudios Superiores de Monterrey (ITESM); Licenciado en Derecho (J.D. equivalent) (Monterrey, Mexico, 1997).

RELEVANT MATTERS

• He has provided legal advice in commercial and foreign trade matters to national and foreign companies in different industrial sectors, such as tobacco, chocolate and food industry in general, steel, electronics, electric, furniture, paper and carton, wood, footwear, plastic, sports products, software, refrigeration, household appliances, pharmaceutical and medical equipment, textile and apparel, transportation, automotive and auto-parts, as well as services related with logistics, warehousing, supply and distribution of products in the country, and call center services for remote support (BPO).
• He has represented foreign companies in their new investment (start-up) or expansion projects in Mexico, particularly in connection with the structure and planning of their foreign trade operations (Maquila-IMMEX), as well as in obtaining incentives from the State Government.
• He has collaborated in various due diligence procedures, as well as in the preparation and negotiation of the different foreign trade and customs aspects associated with the purchase of stock and/or assets, including mergers and spin-offs, as well as dissolutions and liquidation of companies.
• He has provided legal advice in matters related with Mexico’s wide range of Free Trade Agreements, especially those related with North America (NAFTA / USMCA), the European Union, the European Association, Colombia, Japan, Chile, El Salvador-Guatemala-Honduras and the Latin-American Association of Integration (ALADI).
• He has advised companies in numerous projects in connection with the analysis, implementation and compliance with Mexican Official Standards (NOMs), specifically those related with the labeling of commercial information in different types of products prior to their importation and sale in Mexico.
• He has represented clients in administrative and judicial litigation procedures regarding customs matters (PAMAs, PACOs, revocation recourses, nullity petitions, etc.).
• He has also represented companies before different local and federal government authorities, particularly with the Ministry of Economy (SECON) and the Ministry of Finance and Public Credit (SHCP), including Mexican Customs, as well as with the Ministry of Health (SSALUD), Ministry of the Environment (SEMARNAT), Ministry of Agriculture (SAGARPA) and Ministry of Defense (SEDENA) for purposes of compliance with applicable non-tariff regulations, among others.
• He has provided legal advice to Mexican Multiple Purpose Financial Institutions (SOFOM) regarding the viability of granting loans to its clients, as well as in the preparation of contracts and the granting of applicable guarantees.
• He has advised companies in their structuring and planning of their compliance with the use and handling of their “personal data” or of third parties, in accordance with the Federal Law for the Protection of Personal Data in Possession of Private Parties, its Regulations and Guidelines.
• He has advised Mexican subsidiaries of foreign companies in the review, design, implementation, training and supervision of regulatory compliance programs in anti-corruption, including ethics and good business conduct, in accordance with Mexico’s antibribery legal framework and the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA) of the United States of America.

PUBLICATIONS

• Author: “Liberalization of Trade in Professional Legal Services: Mexico & NAFTA’s Chapter 12”, McGill University.  A study regarding cross-border trade in professional legal services.
• Author: “Reforming Personal Property Security Law in Mexico” (Master’s Thesis), McGill University. A study of Mexico’s secured financing system.
• Author: “Maquiladora Companies: A New Culture of Legal Prevention”. An article describing the main obligations from a customs standpoint to which Maquiladora (IMMEX) companies in Mexico are subject to. Instituto Mexicano de Contadores Públicos, A.C.
• Additionally, he has been a guest speaker for a number of seminars related to international business & trade, “Doing Business in Mexico” and foreign investment organized by private law schools in Mexico, as well as by various local and international associations including, among others, Mexico Now, Casa San Antonio, the Cámara Nacional de la Industria de Transformación (CANACINTRA), the Asociación Nacional de Fabricantes para la Industria de Refrigeración (ANFIR), the Canadian Chamber of Commerce in Mexico (CANCHAM), the American Chamber of Commerce (AMCHAM), several Maquiladora and Customs Broker Associations in Mexico, the Ministry of Economic Development of the State of Nuevo Leon, the “Núcleo de Negócios Internacionais da Associação Empresarial de Joinville (ACIJ)” in Brazil, as well as for different commercial delegations from states and provinces of other countries interested in doing business in Mexico.