Of Counsel

Profile

Fernando Sánchez Ugarte has vast experience in public administration and in public policy design. He studied Economics at the Instituto Tecnológico Autónomo de México, where he graduated with honors. He holds a Master’s degree and PhD in Economics from the University of Chicago.

Throughout his career he has headed the formulation, negotiation and implementation of several tax reforms in Mexico’s Secretariat of Finance and Public Credit. He was also behind the creation of the Single Rate Business Tax (IETU), which served as the basis for the successful 2008 tax reform. Previously, Dr. Sánchez Ugarte participated in the establishment of the Value Added Tax, and the reform of the Tax Coordination System between the Federation and Federative Entities.

He was later appointed Undersecretary of Industry and Foreign Investment during the President Salinas de Gortari administration, where he introduced important reforms to liberalize and make the industrial sector more efficient, and promoted both domestic and foreign investment. He participated in the negotiation of the North American Free Trade Agreement and was responsible for the chapters referring to the automotive industry, intellectual property, public procurement and the maquila industry.

In 1994, President Ernesto Zedillo appointed him as president of the Federal Competition Commission, a position he held for 10 years.

He has been an international tax consultant for the governments of Korea, Argentina, Bolivia, Colombia, Guatemala, Honduras and the International Monetary Fund; Consul General of Mexico in Portland, Oregon and general manager of TMM, a private maritime and land transportation company listed in the Mexican Stock Exchange and the New York Stock Exchange.

Fernando has also been a professor of Economics at ITAM, UNAM and the IMF and is the author of several books and articles on economic and public policy issues.

He currently serves as Of Counsel to Kuri Breña, Sánchez Ugarte and Aznar, where he has provided consulting numerous times on antitrust and competition. More specifically, he has been an advisor for the Bank of Mexico over the last four years, conducting various studies on antitrust and competition in the financial sector aimed at promoting the implementation of the Law on Transparency and Management of Financial Services, in the law sector to promote competition in this sector.