Francisco Urrutia

Posse, Herrera & Ruiz Abogados, Bogota, COLOMBIA

Mr. Urrutia merged his practice and became partner of Posse, Herrera & Ruiz in 2003. He heads the Government Relations Department and is co-head of the Energy Department.

His practice focuses on energy business, specially in oil and gas, joint ventures, negotiations, alternate dispute resolution and tax law.

Mr. Urrutia received an LL.M. from

Harvard

Law

School in 1974 and a Law Degree from Universidad de los

Andes in 1973. While his professional career has alternated between working as external and internal counsel, Mr. Urrutia has held many important corporate positions in several leading companies, including President of Legis (the leading Colombian publisher of legal materials), Vice-president of Panamco (Coca-Cola Bottlers), and Legal Department Manager and Coal Marketing Division Manager of Esso Colombiana Ltd. Additionally, he was Deputy Director General of Taxes and Advisor to the Minister of Finance.

Mr. Urrutia advised the leading international spirits company in promoting the changes made to the tax structure on spirits in Colombia, the Colombian Government in the successful settlement of its claims against joint venture partners in a power generation project, and international investors in negotiating joint ventures, purchasing companies and establishing operations in

Colombia .

He was a member of the Board of Directors of Ecopetrol, the State owned Oil Company. He is currently on the Boards of industrial and telecommunications companies in Mexico and

Colombia , is the Vice-president of the Board of Directors of the Colombian American Chamber of Commerce and is a Board member of the Colombian British Chamber of Commerce. He currently is a member of the International Bar Association (IBA), The Colombian Tax Law Institute (ICDT) and the Oil and Mining Lawyers Association.

His native language is Spanish and he is fluent in English and French.

Education

• Harvard

  Law

  School (

  Cambridge-MA, USA ), Master of Laws - LL.M., 1974

• Universidad de los

  Andes (Bogotá), J.D., 1973

Practice

• Corporate Law
• Taxation Law
• Financing
• Mergers and Acquisitions