A year has passed since the Economic Crimes Law came into force for companies, marking a turning point for the business environment in Chile, by increasing legal requirements and criminal sanctions.
Over the past 12 months, organizations have had to adapt and strengthen their compliance programs, face new control requirements, and evaluate their internal structures to ensure effective compliance with the law. This transformation has involved not only technical adjustments but also cultural changes within organizations.
To address this from three different perspectives, BH Compliance held the webinar “Economic Crimes Law: First-Year Analysis”, moderated by Susana Sierra, CEO of BH Compliance, with a panel that included Consuelo Salinas, Deputy Director of the Specialized Unit for Economic, Environmental, Cybercrime and Money Laundering (ULDDECO) at the National Prosecutor’s Office; Marcelo Aguilera, Controller & Compliance Officer at Grupo Camanchaca; and Ramón Montero, Chief Operating Officer at BH Compliance.
Susana Sierra opened the session with a summary of what this first year of the law has meant for companies. She highlighted that legislation has allowed organizations to gain deeper self-awareness and that many have shifted from initial fear to a more constructive outlook.
The panel began with Ramón Montero, who provided the perspective of an independent third-party evaluator, drawing on his experience at BH Compliance. In his remarks, he outlined the main legal changes and how they align with international compliance standards. He also emphasized the importance of the external evaluator’s independence—not only ensuring they did not participate in the model’s implementation, but also guaranteeing financial independence and the absence of conflicts of interest in providing other services.
Next, Consuelo Salinas shared the Public Prosecutor’s Office’s experience in implementing the law, underscoring that it represented a true paradigm shift. For the first time, a clear legal concept of an “economic crime” was established, putting an end to long-standing doctrinal debates. She also explained that, as a highly technical and demanding regulation, it required an intensive training process for prosecutors and police officers.
Finally, Marcelo Aguilera presented Grupo Camanchaca’s adaptation to the new law from a corporate perspective, stressing that the risk matrix was the central pillar of their efforts. It was developed with the participation of all levels of the company, from the board of directors to frontline workers. He also highlighted that the process involved an organizational transformation in which the board played a crucial role in embedding compliance into the corporate strategy.
