Profile
Cándido Paz-Ares has been a chaired professor of commercial law since 1986 and joined Uría Menéndez as a partner in 2001. Previously, he was the Director General of the Department of Registries and Notaries of the Ministry of Justice (1988-1990) and Dean of the Law Faculty of the Universidad Autónoma de Madrid (1997-2000). He is a permanent member of the commercial law section of the General Codification Commission and has been involved in the preparation of many pieces of draft legislation in Spain.
He is considered by his peers both at home and abroad as an authoritative figure in the field of corporate governance. His credentials speak for themselves. He was a member of the Olivencia Committee, charged by the Spanish government with the task of drafting the Code of Corporate Governance (1986), and of the Aldama Commission, which was created to foster transparency and security in the markets and listed companies (2003).
He was also part of the Conthe Commission that reviewed and updated the Spanish Corporate Governance Code (2005-2006). Recently he was appointed to the government’s commission of experts that are working to improve the legislation and code on corporate governance (2014-2015).
Cándido has extensive experience in corporate, M&A and capital markets law and is recognized as a leading lawyer in Spain in those areas by the main international legal directories, such as Chambers & Partners, IFLR 1000, Euromoney, Legal Media Group’s Guide to the World’s Leading Lawyers, Best Lawyers in Spain and the International Who’s Who of Business Lawyers.
Education
- Law Degree, Universidad Complutense de Madrid, 1977 (national graduation prize)
- Ph.D. in Law, summa cum laude, Università degli Studi di Bologna, 1980
Professional associations
- Madrid Bar Association
- European Association of Law and Economics
- American Law and Economics Association
Teaching activity
- Assistant lecturer on commercial law, Universidad Autónoma de Madrid, 1978-1980
- Temporary lecturer, Universidad Autónoma de Madrid, 1980-1982
- Commercial law lecturer, Universidad Autónoma de Madrid, 1982-1986
- Chaired professor of commercial law, Universidad de Cantabria, 1986-1988
- Chaired professor of commercial law, Universidad Autónoma de Madrid since 1992
Additional information
Other professional experience
- Director General of the Department of Registries and Notaries of the Ministry of Justice, 1988-1990.
- Member of the governing board of the Centro de Estudios Judiciales, 1990-1996.
- Permanent member of the commercial law section of the General Codification Commission since 1990.
- Dean of the Law Faculty, Universidad Autónoma de Madrid, 1997-2000.
- Member of the board of directors of Icopostal, Brokers, 1990-1994.
- Member of the board of directors of Transportes Azkar, S.A., 1998-2000.
- Member of board of trustees of the OTIME Foundation since 2000.
- Arbitrator of the Sports Arbitration Tribunal, Spanish Olympic Committee, 1997; ad hoc arbitrator in several commercial disputes of national importance.
- Director of the journal of the Law School of the Universidad Autónoma de Madrid, 1994-1997.
- Member of the board of the Instituto de Economía y Derecho, Universidad Carlos III, Madrid.
- Recipient of the San Raimundo de Peñafort Medal of Honour, awarded by the government at the behest of the Ministry of Justice.
Participation in the preparation of draft legislation
- Appointed by the Ministry of Justice to draw up the draft law on unfair competition (subsequently enacted as Law 3/1991 of 10 January on unfair competition).
- Appointed by the Ministry of Parliamentary Relations to form a working group on legislative techniques and to draft guidelines on the matter, 1986.
- Appointed by the Ministry of Economy and Treasury to design legislation regulating securities as book entries (the proposal was ultimately incorporated into Law 24/1988 of 28 July on the stock exchange).
- Prepared the draft law on professional corporations (with Aurora Campins), approved by the General Codification Commission, 1999.
- Member of the commission in charge of drafting the new Companies Law (which was ultimately enacted by Royal Legislative Decree 1564/1989 of 22 December approving the new text of the Companies Law), 1989.
- Chairman of the editing commission of the Commercial Registry Regulation, 1989.
- Member of the special commission created to research a code of ethics for boards of directors (adopted by an agreement of the Council of Ministers of 28 February 1997 and a ministerial order of the second Vice-president of the Government and the Minister for Economy and Treasury of 24 March 1997).
- Member of the special commission created to draft the law on distribution contracts (Order of the Ministry of Justice of 21 November 1977).
- Appointed by the Spanish Securities Exchange Commission as a member of the commission in charge of revising and completing the Listed Companies Governance Report (known as the 'Olivencia Report').