About  the Founding Partner

With a Law Degree from the Pontifical Catholic University of São Paulo in 1996 and a Masters – LL.M. (Masters of Laws) from the London School of Economics (LSE), London, England, in Private International Law (1998-1999), Maria Beatriz also holds a Graduate Degree from the Getúlio Vargas Foundation (FGV) in International Law of Economic and Trade Relations (2003) and from the University Extension Center (CEU Law School) in International Business Law (2005).

In 2016, she completed a MBA Graduate Program in Corporate Governance, Compliance and Risk Management (“Advanced Boardroom Program for Women” – ABPW) at the Saint Paul Business School (São Paulo) and, in 2017, the international module at Columbia University, New York.

In 2018, she took the IBGC (the Brazilian Corporate Governance Institute) training course to be an Independent Board Member, to act as an advisor and as a corporate governance development agent at companies.

Founding partner of MBAP Law (Maria Beatriz Armelin Petroni Individual Law Firm), an office specialized in business law and corporate governance, Maria Beatriz has been working for over 24 years, advising companies in Brazil, both domestic and multinational, as well as companies investing overseas.

She worked with private international law, banking law and on privatization projects for companies in Brazil as an associate lawyer at law firm Machado, Meyer, Sendacz e Opice Advogados (1997).

After her masters at the LSE – London/England, beginning in the year 2000 she worked for four years as an associate lawyer in the business area of the full-service office, Trench, Rossi e Watanabe Advogados (at that time associated with the US office, Baker & McKenzie), in corporate law, banking law (notably cross-border operations and in advising clients on issues involving the exchange controls of the Central Bank of Brazil – “Central Bank”) and in foreign trade transactions. During this period, she was advisor primarily to foreign companies on Doing business in Brazil and Brazilian companies interested in making Brazilian investments abroad, in various types of agreements, including joint ventures, and sale and acquisitions/M&A transactions,  and on day-to-day corporate and regulatory issues of the Central Bank.

In 2004, she received an invitation to take over the coordination of the legal department of Coimex Trading, a major domestic soft commodities trading company. She played an important role in negotiating agreements involving significant export transactions of ethanol, sugar, coffee, soybean and beef from Brazil. She coordinated the operations to expand the business in the USA, Canada and in Geneva. She provided advisory in civil litigation and international arbitration cases in Geneva, New York and in Paris (International Chamber of Commerce). She obtained international legal experience in a  law firm in London.

In 2006, she headed up the legal  department as a General Counsel of Coimex Trading, taking over the coordination of all legal issues of the company and those of its subsidiaries  overseas, not only on corporate and contractual issues, but also in the management of issues involving tax law, labor law and civil litigation for credit recovery both in Brazil and overseas. With the advent of Law 11.101/05 (“The Recovery and Bankruptcy Law”), she participated actively in debt recovery and civil litigation , drafting recovery plans and in creditors general assembly meetings, notably in the sugar and ethanol industry.

In 2009, she was invited to be the Chief Legal Officer of  the investment holding company of the Coimex Group, Coimex Empreendimentos e Participações Ltda., enhancing her knowledge on Corporate Governance (including the review of Shareholder Agreements) and Compliance (drafting of the Code of Ethics and Conduct and integrity programs), while  analyzing all types of agreements, in M&A and corporate transactions, tax litigation and control of judicial disputes. In addition, she assisted with key strategic issues, decision making and in organizing the meetings of the Board of Directors (aspects related to the corporate governance system), in a complex business environment with the aim of fostering legal security.

Therefore, from 2009 until April 2021, she was a statutory executive officer for operations involving business deals in the foreign trade area, credit recovery, ports, the real estate industry (key lease agreements and build-to-suit transactions), infrastructure (highway concessions) and energy, having participated in major M&A projects and in reviewing joint venture agreements, in addition to coordinating the civil, corporate, labor law, tax and compliance areas.

In April, 2022, she took the Internacional Module of Kaospilot, in Denmark, coordinated by Saint Paul Business School  (ABP-W) on Innovation in Complex and Turbulent Times, Change, Diversity and Inclusion on Board of Directors.

In the beginning of 2022, she became an Officer of IBRADEMP and also a coordinator of the Agribusiness Commission of such institute.