Yani R. Contreras is an attorney licensed in Mexico, and also licensed as a Special Legal Consultant in the DC Court of Appeals, who has joined the firm as a Foreign Legal Counsel in Washington, D.C. Her practice is primarily focused in the areas of financial services, international trade and securities law matters. She has extensive experience with respect to life insurance and variable products, including offshore transactions, foreign regulatory compliance, and the use of life insurance in financing transactions. She is also monitoring proposed legislation and developments in connection with U.S. Department of Treasury's Financial Regulatory Reform Proposal, the Emergency Economic Stabilization Act of 2008, the Optional Federal Charter for insurers and Office of National Insurance, and the Consumer Financial Protection Agency.
Ms. Contreras also has experience with transactional work in Latin America in cross-border and financing transactions, particularly Mexico. She has assisted in establishing FCPA compliance programs for U.S. and foreign companies and has advised clients on offshore anti-money laundering requirements.
Before joining Holland & Knight, Ms. Contreras was a foreign attorney in another U.S. law firm and before that, she was an associate in a well recognized law firm in Mexico city.
Ms. Contreras representative transactions include:
- Development of multi-national insurance companies’ internal policies to ensure compliance with insurance, tax, and securities laws both in the United Sates and in various countries in Latin America, including in respect of variable products.
- Analysis of OFAC regulations, including the Cuban Asset Control Regulations.
- Development of compliance structures to the USA Patriot Act and the anti-money laundering laws of various jurisdictions including in the Caribbean and Latin America.
- Design of trust structures for offshore insurance companies in order to sell investment products and accommodate tax implications in Latin American countries.
- Analysis of different legal issues in connection with Bermuda based life insurance companies and offshore transactions.
- Advising clients in connection with perfecting security interests in Mexico; use of the guarantee trust and pledge without possession.
- General Agreement on Trade in Services, NAFTA in connection with the NAFTA Financial Services Chapter and adoption of CAFTA-DR and the necessary enabling legislation in the member countries.
- Advising clients on laws regulating distributors and distribution arrangements in Latin America and the Caribbean.
- Analysis of the insurance laws of select Latin American countries including Mexico and Panama incident to creation of an insurance fronting arrangement to permit sale of insurance policies in those countries.
- Advising in connection with licensing and compliance matters under State laws applicable to remittance/money service businesses.