Fernando is Senior Partner at Bufete Aguirre, Quintanilla, Soria & Nishizawa. He has been practicing law for 50 years and in his areas of practice he renders services mainly to local and international companies, nonprofit organizations as well as individuals and family businesses. He is the honorary legal advisor to the British Ambassador in Bolivia.

Fernando started his professional career in 1968 at Bufete Aguirre, firm founded in 1940 by his father Carlos Aguirre R.

He is currently Chairman of the Board of Directors of EMBOL S.A. one of the Coca Cola bottlers in Bolivia, Vice-president of the Board of Directors of Inversora Los Andes S.A. and Sindico at Minera San Cristobal S.A., SILEX S.A. and MEMISA S.A. (Sumitomo Corp’s–Japan, Bolivian subsidiaries).

Fernando was Chairman of the Board of Directors of the American Chamber of Commerce of Bolivia, now presiding its Nominations Committee, as the first Bolivian president of the entity. He has acted as Minister Secretary General of the Presidency of the Republic (during the term of Dr. Walter Guevara Arce) and as external Director of the Central Bolivian Bank for more than two decades during the 90s. Fernando also acted as president of the international movement of Catholic Action (MIAMSI) and was the Director of the Centre for Promotion of Laity (CEPROLAI) of the La Paz Catholic Archdioceses.

Author of several publications and articles on different areas of the law, Fernando is also a regular panelist in international conferences on Arbitration and Natural Resources.

As legal advisor to the National Association of Medium Miners and to the National Confederation of Private Entrepreneurs of Bolivia, he participated in the negotiations and conversations for the new Investment Law, the Mining Law and the Law on Conciliation and Arbitration.

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’s and the Bolivian Arbitration Society’s.

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 Media for Dispute Resolution and Arbitration; Master’s Degree Program in International and Diplomatic Law at the Bolivian Catholic University.

He is a registered arbitrator at the arbitration centers of the National Chamber of Commerce, La Paz, the National Chamber of Hydrocarbons and Energy in Santa Cruz and the Kuala Lumpur Regional Arbitration Centre and past arbitrator in the panel of arbitrators of ICSID.

EDUCATION :

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

RECOGNITIONS:

• Who is Who Legal has incorporated Fernando in the privileged list of the best international lawyers on mining as a “Thought Leader”.
• Fernando is listed in publications such as Chambers & Partners, The Legal 500, IFLR 1000 and Latin American Corporate Counsel Association, among others, as leading lawyer in Banking & Finance, Corporate / Commercial, Energy & Natural Resources y Real State and Arbitration.

MEMBERSHIPS:

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