Inspiring Women in Law: An Interview with Alexia Rosenthal

To welcome 2025, Latin Counsel had the opportunity to chat with Alexia Rosenthal, a key figure in Argentina’s legal world.

In an inspiring interview, Alexia tells us about what motivates her, her approach to leadership, and her dedication to fostering new generations of lawyers.

Alexia is a founding partner and chair of the executive committee of the Argentinean law firm TCA Tanoira Cassagne, specialising in Banking and Finance, Capital Markets and Project Finance. She heads several key departments in her firm and since March 2018 she is an independent director in Mercado Abierto Electrónico (MAE), which will merge in 2025 with MATBA Rofex to form Argentina’s largest market, A3.

She is chair of the Argentine Banks Lawyers Committee, leads IDEA’s Corporate Governance Network and acts as a consultant for the Inter-American Development Bank. She also promotes female leadership as an active member of Women Corporate Directors (WCD) and is Vice President of the Argentinean Legaltech Association (ALTA).

Her career has been recognised by IFLR 1000, Legal500 and Chambers & Partners, and she was named LATAM Lawyer of the Year in Banking and Finance by Latin American Lawyer in 2024. She is also a professor of Banking & Law and Corporate Finance at Universidad Austral and an international speaker on blockchain, cryptoassets, tokenisation and smart contracts.

Latin Counsel: Could you tell us about your background in the legal field and what inspired you to specialise in banking and finance law?

Alexia Rosenthal: I am a law graduate from the University of Buenos Aires and I also have a degree in Political Science from the same university. During my career I worked in the civil courts. When I graduated, I did not have a passion for litigation or promoting litigation and I started working in a law firm that had capital markets as one of its main specialities. From the very beginning, I was very attracted to advising on the structuring of the legal architecture of finance. As a result, I became increasingly specialised in my work and in academia, including a Master’s degree in Law and Finance at the London School of Economics (LSE) in England.

Latin Counsel: What motivated you to become a founding partner of TCA Tanoira Cassagne and how has this experience shaped your career?

Alexia Rosenthal: In 2011, when I was a partner in one of the largest law firms in Buenos Aires, a group of young partners from other prestigious firms called me to participate in the creation of TCA Tanoira Cassagne, with the idea of creating a law firm that would replicate all the good things that large firms have and change certain other things that we were not so aligned with.
With this in mind, we created TCA Tanoira Cassagne, a full-service law firm with a great ability to work collaboratively to turn ideas into business. Our legal expertise enables us to anticipate and identify opportunities, and we are strategic allies to our clients. We started as a firm of 25 lawyers and today we are 110 lawyers, having grown organically over the years.

Latin Counsel: What were your goals when you took over the chairmanship of the Banking Lawyers Committee?

Alexia Rosenthal: It was a great honour to be appointed President of the Argentine Banking Lawyers Committee for a period of one year. The Committee is a non-profit civil association founded in 1966 with the aim of creating a forum for the exchange of opinions on banking law issues, promoting and disseminating studies and organising congresses and conferences.

As a result of the change in government, this has been a very challenging year due to the proliferation of regulations from various regulatory bodies that have had and continue to have a direct and indirect impact on banking activity and the financial ecosystem. In this context, we have held monthly plenary meetings to review and analyse these regulations and to create spaces for discussion on the most important regulations that have been issued. To this end, we invited leading experts in the various fields who provided us with their valuable perspectives and knowledge, creating a very enriching environment for discussion.

We have also ensured that our practices and procedures adhere to the highest standards of ethics and transparency, and have worked closely with regulators and legislators to positively influence the creation and amendment of laws and regulations affecting the banking and financial sector.

Latin Counsel: What does it mean for TCA Tanoira Cassagne to be named Law Firm of the Year again by Latin Finance?

Alexia Rosenthal: Being named Law Firm of the Year 2023 in February this year was a very important recognition for TCA Tanoira Cassagne, as it confirms that we are doing the right things and on the right track.

We are competing with renowned law firms that we greatly admire, so to be chosen as a relatively new and full-service law firm makes us proud and sets the bar high for us to continue to improve day by day.

Latin Counsel: What advice would you give to young women considering a career in law, especially in traditionally male-dominated fields?

Alexia Rosenthal: The first thing I would say is to pay attention to networking. Networking used to be a man’s game and a lot of big deals were done on golf courses or over scotch. Now women’s networking, or women networking with men, is an area that is starting to develop more actively and I suggest that women start to occupy those spaces as well.

It is logical that women who choose motherhood have a bottleneck in their career development and it is good to slow down a bit during these years to find a healthy balance, a situation that also arises when we have to take care of our elderly parents or when we have to organise our homes. In this sense, it is healthy to share these tasks and to know how to delegate, and it is important to surround oneself with people who can help in all areas. Companies have a duty to know how to accompany women in this process, to help them through these more challenging years.

We are at a time when diversity is a value, not only because the results of diverse desks are more disruptive and valuable, but also because companies that have these values get better talent and make them more loyal, and that translates into a better work culture and, in turn, a better work environment.

In addition, and no less importantly, stakeholders (suppliers, customers, shareholders) are demanding that diversity is a reality applied in the business as a condition of doing business. In short, diversity is now a business issue and not just a principle to be found in company handbooks, but a ’call to action’ that moves from the agenda to action as a condition for being hired by customers or considered by suppliers, and for listed companies, directly affecting the stock market value of their shares.

Finally, I strongly recommend the use of mentoring. It is a very enriching two-way feedback process for both parties, where experience is passed on and the vision of the younger generation is received.

Latin Counsel: How do you see the evolving role of legal professionals in the context of emerging technologies, such as blockchain and crypto assets?

Alexia Rosenthal: This year I was also appointed Vice President of the Association of Legal Technologists in Argentina (ALTA).

ALTA is an entity whose mission is to promote, encourage and make visible technological innovation in legal and judicial activity in Argentina, contributing to the creation of a more efficient, collaborative and fair legal ecosystem.

The initiative was born as a space for collaboration and synergy between different actors of the legal industry in the country, with the support of multidisciplinary experts and a vision oriented towards progress, and ALTA has become a benchmark in the promotion of technological innovation in the legal and judicial sector in the country.

Technological innovation plays a crucial role in the transformation of banking and financial law. We have various topics on the agenda, such as the digitalisation of the financial system, understanding and regulating the new business models developed by fintechs, process automation, artificial intelligence, blockchain technology and cybersecurity. These are all on ALTA’s agenda. It is clear that technological innovation is transforming banking and finance law, creating new opportunities and challenges that require constant adaptation of legal and regulatory frameworks.

Lawyers in this area must keep up with these technological advances to provide relevant advice and ensure that financial practices are in line with current regulations, while protecting consumers and the integrity of the financial system.

Latin Counsel: What has been the most rewarding moment of your career?

Alexia Rosenthal: This year I received the award for Best Lawyer Banking & Finance LATAM from Latin American Lawyer. Receiving this award, which is given to the best lawyers in LATAM in each practice area, was an immense honour and a significant milestone in my career. It is a clear testament to the importance of perseverance, passion for what I do and the constant pursuit of excellence.

Furthermore, this award motivates me to continue to excel and contribute to the development of the financial legal sector and drives me to be a role model and mentor to new generations of lawyers, especially women, so that they can achieve their goals and make a significant contribution to the field of law.

Ultimately, receiving the award was a validation of my work and an inspiration to move forward with even more enthusiasm and commitment.

Latin Counsel: As the leader of the IDEA Corporate Governance Network, what practices do you consider essential to improve corporate governance in the financial sector?

Alexia Rosenthal: This year I am in the first year of my two-year term as IDEA Corporate Governance Network Leader. In this role, I have organised many widely attended activities throughout the year aimed at providing tools and sharing experiences to improve corporate governance in companies.

One of the key themes was transparency and accountability, as it is essential for companies to communicate openly and transparently with all stakeholders, including shareholders, customers, employees and regulators. On the other hand, the issue of comprehensive risk management was addressed, with the implementation of a robust risk management system that identifies, assesses and mitigates financial, operational, regulatory and reputational risks. This includes the establishment of risk, audit and compliance committees to monitor and manage risks on an ongoing basis.

Emphasis was placed on fostering an organisational culture based on ethics and compliance.

Finally, the importance of integrating corporate social responsibility and sustainability into business strategy was discussed. Companies in the financial sector need to consider environmental, social and governance (ESG) impacts in their investment decisions and daily operations, and contribute to sustainable development and the well-being of communities.

Latin Counsel: Can you describe TCA’s overall philosophy on diversity and inclusion and explain what core values drive this policy?

Alexia Rosenthal: At TCA, we integrate diversity and inclusion into our strategy. It is in our DNA to ensure that all lawyers have equal opportunities. We pay a lot of attention to supporting the work-life balance of our lawyers.

The legal profession is very male, and the world of finance, in which I grew up, is even more so. In that sense, I have personally faced a lot of mansplaining situations and have often suffered from the impostor syndrome, having to over-justify my technical skills or legal knowledge to explain and justify my promotions or the different challenges I have taken on.

At some point in my career, however, I began to understand that we all have unconscious biases and that it is much more emotionally intelligent to try to integrate different views to achieve richer results, rather than to confront them with anger.

At TCA Tanoira Cassagne, we firmly believe that the outcome of homogeneous roundtables is much poorer and that the outcome of diverse roundtables, from every point of view and not only in terms of gender, is much more enriching, disruptive and useful. In this sense, we work from integration of views, not confrontation, to constructively highlight the benefits of diversity.

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