Cristiane Honorato
I have a law degree in Spain and Brazil. I completed the Programa Superior de Compliance at IE Law School; the CESCOM Compliance Certification, issued by ASCOM (the Spanish Compliance Association) and IFCA (the International Federation of Compliance Associations); and the Data Protection Officer Certification, after finishing the AEPD scheme (the Spanish Data Protection Agency).
Then, I developed my professional career in the field of international consulting, advising global entities on their legal obligations. Before that, I worked as a project coordinator at Expansión Exterior S.A., a joint-stock company owned by the Spanish Institute for Foreign Trade (ICEX).
I have also worked as a consultant and advisor for the consulting firm Véritas Consult Empresas, both in Brazil and Spain, where my job was to promote legal strategies for international investment. A large part of my professional career has been focused on the area of compliance, especially with regard to the analysis of legal and regulatory risks that may arise from investment and due diligence of third parties.
In addition, I am a founding partner of a consulting firm specializing in business ethics, compliance, and privacy that is dedicated to the implementation, maintenance, improvement, and control of compliance and data protection systems (such as the GDPR or LOPDGDD).
"The international experience the program offers opens the door to a wider range of possibilities, both professionally and personally."
What stands out from your experience during the program?
IE Law School’s Superior Compliance Program was a great experience. The school holds a very high standard when selecting not only its faculty, but every member of the institution. This guarantees both educational excellence and the hands-on practical component of the programs. The professors, who are world-class experts in their respective fields, openly share their professional experience—both their achievements and failures—offering students a broad overview of a variety of sectors.
The program also gave me the opportunity to study with a group of exceptional colleagues, whose experiences further enriched the learning process.
Academic knowledge is usually considered to be the basis of education, but for me, the most relevant aspect of this program were the classes focused on obtaining practical experience. They really allowed us to gain a deeper knowledge of the real-life world of compliance.
In addition, I would like to emphasize that the Superior Compliance Program was what motivated me and a classmate to launch our compliance and privacy consulting firm, Business Ethics Compliance and Privacy Consultancy, which has been a huge success.
What has been the most important achievement or project of your career?
From a very young age my passion for reading led me to develop a great interest in other societies and countries. Later on, I became passionate about languages and eager to experience other cultures, which further increased my desire to become a citizen with a global vision. My career in the legal world has given me a whole new perspective, as well as the opportunity to live and work abroad. I would say that, so far, my most significant professional achievement lies in having been able to combine my personal interests (reading, languages, and exploring different cultures) with my profession.
In 2003, I finished the Master in International Business in Madrid, and over the past 15 years, I have dedicated myself to advising and helping companies to develop internationally.
Since 2014, I have witnessed the negative consequences that unethical corporate and government conduct can have on a company, a country, and ordinary people like us. After all, a government’s behavior affects us all in our daily lives, either directly or indirectly. This realization is what led me to look for tools that could help my clients and other public or private organizations to avoid the negative consequences of illegal and unethical behavior.
As I have already mentioned, this has helped me to find a balance between my personal and professional ambitions. The compliance program at IE Law School allowed me to acquire the necessary experience to offer advice to companies in the field of compliance while helping me achieve my goal of creating my own consulting firm, as I mentioned before. Our aim is to provide advice to organizations about good business practices and procedures, as well as laws, regulations, and compliance principles. We strive to help companies establish a corporate culture that supports ethical behavior and helps them maintain a strong reputation.
What do you like most about your profession?
In general, what I like most about consulting is that it is an opportunity to help companies find solutions to problems and make progress. In particular, one of the most motivating aspects of my work is that it has the potential to contribute to the development of ethical businesses, ultimately promoting strong ethics and integrity in our society.
