Erika Pando joined the Basel Institute on Governance in March 2022 and is Specialist, Asset Recovery for the Green Corruption programme in Bolivia.

In this role, Erika supports an ambitious project of the UK's IWT Challenge Fund aimed at disrupting the financing of Andean illegal wildlife trade (IWT) networks. The project seeks to embed financial investigations and asset recovery techniques into IWT-focused law enforcement practice. Erika's research will be crucial to the work of the Basel Institute's law enforcement advisors in Bolivia in providing high-quality training and case assistance to its partner agencies.

Erika is a Bolivian lawyer and graduate of the Universidad Privada Boliviana. She has a Master's degree in Corporate and Business Law from Universidad Andina Simón Bolívar and a second Master's degree in Financial Law from Boston University in the USA. She has worked with major law firms in Bolivia, including Moreno Baldivieso, Ferrere Bolivia and PPO Abogados. 

Erika's legal experience spans negotiation of various types contracts, non-disclosure agreements, and commercial deals within the private sector. She also has experience handling corporate, financial and regulatory matters from local and international companies through due diligence tools, drafting Board resolutions and Shareholders' minutes, analysing financial corporate information, and verifying regulatory compliance. 

She also provided legal assessments for insurance, reinsurance and financial services companies, at both local and international levels, especially on matters and administrative processes related to commerce, corporate governance and regulation under different Bolivian public institutions.