Margarita R. Sánchez is a civil and common law trial lawyer with more than 20 years of experience representing public and private sector clients worldwide in international law. Ms. Sánchez focuses her practice on global anti-corruption, corporate investigations, and cross-border disputes. She has advised and represented sovereign states and private sector clients in numerous high-profile investigations and multi-million-dollar disputes, including international arbitration under most major rules arising out of projects and transactions in the Americas, Europe, Asia, and the Middle East. Ms. Sánchez has experience in investor-state arbitration under investment treaties, as well as complex multi-jurisdictional disputes involving parties from Spain, Latin America, and the Caribbean (in particular, Caribbean Community (CARICOM) countries), combining her work as counsel in international arbitrations with arbitral appointments. She is a member of the International Centre for Settlement of Investment Disputes (ICSID) Panel of Conciliators and is listed on the Panel of International Arbitrators of the Bogota, Santa Catarina (Brazil), and El Salvador Chambers of Commerce. Ms. Sánchez's white collar experience includes matters involving the U.S. Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA) and other anti-corruption laws. She has deep experience in international procurement and international development institutions' sanctions proceedings, including the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB), World Bank, Caribbean Development Bank, the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), and the United Nations Office for Project Services (UNOPS). Prior to joining the private sector, Ms. Sánchez worked for the IDB's Office of Institutional Integrity (IDB-OII) conducting investigations of allegations of fraud and corruption occurring in activities financed by the IDB Group. She was one of the first members of IDB-OII and was involved in the drafting of the first sanctions proceedings. She assisted with the foundation of the Uniform Framework for Preventing and Combating Fraud and Corruption signed by the major multilateral development banks (MDBs) and the International Monetary Fund (IMF) in 2006, delving into the policies of the multilateral debarment from its inception. As a native Spanish speaker born and raised in Latin America, Ms. Sánchez has worked in nearly every country in the region. Prior to joining Miller & Chevalier, Ms. Sánchez practiced at two Am Law 200 firms and founded a boutique law practice in Washington, DC, specializing in international law with a regional focus on Latin American and the Caribbean. Earlier in her career, she served as in-house counsel for Monómeros Colombo Venezolanos, S.A., a fertilizer and chemicals company located in Colombia, where she oversaw the anti-narcotics and anti-money laundering (AML) regulatory compliance. Ms. Sánchez has lectured at the International Law Institute in Washington, DC and from 2014-2016 was an adjunct professor at Georgetown University Law Center. She has published articles on topics related to international arbitration and global corruption in well-known publications including Inter-American Dialogue's Energy Advisor and Forbes Colombia. She is the author of the corruption chapter in Tratados Internacionales y el Arbitraje de Inversión: Experiencias de Colombia y del Derecho Comparado (Editorial IBAÑEZ, 2019).
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