EY Abogados appoints Adolfo Zunzunegui as new managing partner

EY has announced the appointment of Adolfo Zunzunegui as managing partner of EY Abogados, replacing Ramón Palacín, who will now head up the Clients and Markets division.

According to Federico Linares, president of EY Spain: “These appointments demonstrate that we are a firm that offers the opportunity to live many lives, and here we have two extraordinary examples: Adolfo and Ramón. Furthermore, our strategic vision is that of a virtuous organisation: we change when things are going well; that” is why we believe that this change is good for them, for the firm, for our professionals and for our clients.”

Adolfo Zunzunegui

Zunzunegui, who will retain his current roles in Corporate Development and Institutional Relations, is taking the reins of the firm. Until January 2024, when he returned to EY, the new managing partner led the Spanish tax practice at Allen & Overy Overy (A&O). Previously, from January 2010 to February 2017, he was EY’s partner responsible for tax and legal matters in the financial sector (banking and insurance).

Prior to that, he developed his professional career at Freshfields and Garrigues. Adolfo, who has participated in and advised on multiple asset financing transactions, structured transactions, M&A transactions, asset investment and divestment, as well as the analysis and restructuring of venture capital transactions, holds a degree in Law and is a corporate legal advisor from the Pontifical University of Comillas. With more than 26 years of professional experience, he is recognised by the main legal directories as one of Spain’s leading tax lawyers.

Ramón Palacín

For his part, Ramón Palacín faces the challenge of consolidating the Clients and Markets model, structured by sector, which the firm launched for all its service lines last year.

Palacín led the International Taxation and Transfer Pricing team before becoming managing partner of EY Abogados. He holds a degree in Economics and Business Studies from the Complutense University of Madrid and a degree in Law from the UNED. He has been a member of the Senior Corps of State Tax Inspectors since 1998.

Throughout his career, he has advised the most important industrial and energy groups on the IBEX 35 and a multitude of American and European multinational groups on corporate restructuring, investment, divestment and financing processes; international taxation and local and international disputes with tax authorities.

Ramón Palacín, the new partner in charge of Clients and Markets at EY Spain, says, “The firm has been a tremendous learning experience for me, for which I am deeply grateful. Leading it for seven years, almost doubling its turnover and positioning EY Abogados as the leader in tax law and the fourth largest firm in Spain in terms of turnover has been a privilege; as it is now to take up the baton of Clients and Markets, a responsibility that I assume with great humility, but also with ambition.”