Fernando Aguirre

Fernando is a senior partner at Aguirre, Quintanilla, Soria & Nishizawa Law Firm. He has practiced the profession for 50 years and in his areas of practice he provides services mainly to national and international companies, non-profit organizations and individuals and family groups. He is honorary legal advisor to the United Kingdom Ambassador to Bolivia.

He began his professional career in 1968 at the Aguirre Law Firm, a legal practice founded in 1940 by his father, Dr Carlos Aguirre R.

Currently, he is also Chairman of the Board of EMBOL SA, a Coca Cola bottling company in the main regions of Bolivia, Vice Chairman of the Board of INANSA (investment company) and Head Trustee of Minera San Cristóbal SA, SILEX SA and MEMISA SA (Sumitomo subsidiaries Corporation of Japan).

He has been Chairman of the Board of the American Chamber of Commerce of Bolivia, currently chairing its Nominating Committee, as the oldest former Bolivian president. He has held the positions of Minister Secretary of the Presidency of the Republic (government of Dr Walter Guevara Arce) and External Director of the Central Bank of Bolivia for just over two years in the 1990s. He was the worldwide President of the Independent Catholic Action Movement and also served as Director of the Ceprolai (Center for the Promotion of the Laity) of the Catholic Archdiocese of La Paz. Author of various publications and articles in various branches of law. Regular panelist at international arbitration and natural resources conferences.

As an advisor to the National Association of Medium Miners and the Confederation of Private Entrepreneurs of Bolivia, he intervened in the negotiations or conversations for the new Investment, Mining, and Conciliation and Arbitration Laws.

He is an active participant in international conferences of the CCI, RMMLF, PDAC, International Bar Association, American Bar Association, Latin American Arbitration Conferences, and others, in several of which he has made presentations and participated as a panelist, including most of the CLA and of the Bolivian Arbitration Society.

Fernando was Professor of Public International Law at the Diplomatic Academy of Bolivia, Professor of Introduction to Law at the Bolivian Catholic University and Professor of Alternative Means of Dispute Resolution and Arbitration. Master in International and Diplomatic Law at the Bolivian Catholic University.

He is a registered arbitrator at the conciliation and arbitration centers of the National Chambers of Commerce, La Paz, and Hydrocarbons, as well as at the Kuala Lumpur Regional Center for International Arbitration. He was a registered referee on the ICSID panel of referees.

Education

• International Commercial Arbitration, American University, Washington School of Law. 2004.
• Diploma in Law (International), University of Oxford, England, 1971.
• Degree in Law, Political and Social Sciences, Universidad Mayor de San Andrés – La Paz, Bolivia, 1968.
• Lawyer, Universidad Mayor de San Andrés – La Paz, Bolivia, 1968.

Acknowledgments

• Who is Who Legal has included him in the privileged list of the best international mining lawyers, under the heading “Thought Leaders”, Thought Leaders.
• Fernando has been listed in the publications of Chambers & Partners, The Legal 500, IFLR 1000 and Latin American Corporate Counsel Association, among others, as a leading lawyer in the areas of Banking & Finance, Corporate / Commercial, Energy & Natural Resources, Real Estate and Arbitration.

Memberships

• La Paz and Santa Cruz Bar Association
• International Bar Association
• American Bar Association
• Latin American Arbitration Association.
• Latin American Arbitration Group ICC, Paris.
• Rocky Mountain Mineral Law Foundation.
• Prospectors and Developers Association of Canada.
• International Chamber of Commerce.
• Association of International Petroleum Negotiators

Languages

• Spanish
• English