ECIJA Advisory opens in Colombia, Chile and Mexico

ECIJA Advisory is the service line of the ECIJA group aimed at solving the financial, tax, accounting, human resources, corporate governance, audit and forensic needs of large business groups as well as medium-sized companies and startups. The Advisory division has local teams in the different countries where ECIJA operates.

The Colombian office of ECIJA Advisory is headed by partner Simón Alejandro Guzmán, who has been with the firm as a managing partner since February. Prior to joining the firm, he held the position of partner at SAG Assessment and Consulting.

He holds an MBA from UNIR, and has a degree in business administration from the Universidad Santo Tomas de Aquino, and has completed courses in tax and auditing at the Universidad Autónoma de Bucaramanga, among other courses.

The Mexico Advisory division will be led by partners Gerardo Villavicencio and Gustavo Contró, and will offer financial management services such as accounting and tax, corporate finance linked to alliance analysis, mergers, divestitures or acquisitions, business management in financial and operational restructuring, outsourced CFO services, financial due diligence, business modelling, as well as forensic auditing.

ECIJA Mexico expands its range of services in order to consolidate its position as a full service firm in the country. The Latin American firm with the largest presence in Latin America has announced the opening of the Advisory line in Mexico with the incorporation of its new partners Gustavo Contró and Gerardo Villavicencio. With this incorporation, ECIJA adds a total of nine partners in Mexico together with a team of more than 35 professionals.

Leading the financial services team, which includes corporate governance and forensics, is Gerardo Villavicencio. The new partner has more than 28 years of experience in advising on business transformation, profit and loss, management and executive leadership, business processes, strategic planning, mergers and acquisitions, as well as financial planning and analysis. He has held various management and CEO positions in multinationals such as The Dow Chemical Company, General Electric and most recently SGS. In addition, he has participated as an independent director in Holcim in Chile, through its subsidiary Polpaico.

In the last 18 years he has held leadership and management roles in Mexico and Latin America with international assignments, government affairs, related to the chemical, health, oil, gas, power generation and ICT-Industrial, environmental, health and safety (EHS), food and beverage, mining and automotive markets.

In addition, the compliance services practice will be headed by Gustavo Contró. Gustavo will lead the accounting, human resources, audit and CFO as a service portfolio. The new partner of ECIJA Advisory will also assume the functions as CFO of the firm in Mexico.

Gustavo has more than 34 years of experience in the areas of finance, treasury, administration, audit and operations. He has served as CFO for the LATAM Region of IPSOS, Cardtronics and other multinational IT and telecommunications companies. Gustavo Contró has a deep knowledge of the telecommunications, marketing and financial services industries.

In Chile, the Advisory division integrates the firm RGA Consultores, and comprises a team led by Paola Silva, Manuel Santelices and Alfredo Moreno, partner of ECIJA in Chile. 

Among the most important operations are advising foreign entities investing in Chile in accounting and tax matters, the application of double taxation treaties in force, inspections and audits, as well as day-to-day labor and tax aspects for both Chilean and foreign companies in their operations.

In the words of Alfredo Moreno, partner of ECIJA Chile: "this project involves providing solutions and answers to the demand for accounting, tax and payroll services that our clients have been requesting for some time. Now it is our turn to return that trust by establishing a standard of modern and quality services. The integration of Paola, Manuel and the rest of the team will allow us to consolidate our relationships with our clients by providing a 360º advisory service in which legal and accounting services go hand in hand, providing our clients with global coverage.

Oliver Von Schiller, managing partner of ECIJA Advisory, highlights the firm's commitment to continue expanding its Advisory operations in Latin America, adding this new team in Chile to the recent opening of the same division in Colombia.

Paola Silva and Manuel Santelices, partners of RGA Consultores, who join as new partners of ECIJA Advisory,  said: "this challenge is a new step forward in our professional career, joining a large international firm with presence in many countries, which will allow us to continue growing personally and professionally”.