Who we are

Russell Stanley Geronimo is a corporate lawyer, finance professional, and founder & CEO of a law firm (Geronimo Law) and finance & accounting firm (Strago). He has exposure in all private practice settings (big law, midsize, solo, in-house), and served in all branches of government (executive, legislative, and judiciary) in their respective top-level offices (Office of the President, Senate, House of Representatives, and Supreme Court). He specializes in M&A and deals, banking & finance, investments & securities, energy & infrastructure, maritime, aviation & transportation, public-private partnership (PPP), and state-owned enterprises.

‍Geronimo advised the World Bank in the formation and administration of a PhP1 billion revolving fund for innovation. He directly participated in the rehabilitation & insolvency proceedings of special purpose entities of Lehman Brothers, LandBank-DBP merger plan, reversion of coco levy assets to the Republic of the Philippines, and corporate restructuring of government financial institutions (GFIs) and government-owned and/or controlled corporations (GOCCs).

‍He supervised the governance of the largest State-owned investment and trust funds, including the public sector pension fund (GSIS), private sector pension fund (SSS), military pension fund (AFP-RSBS), housing savings fund (Pag-IBIG Fund), and health insurance fund (PhilHealth), universal banks (LandBank, DBP, UCPB), the first and only Islamic bank of the Philippines (Al-Amanah), the State gaming operator (PAGCOR), State lottery institution (PCSO), and State deposit insurance system (PDIC).

‍He is lead counsel of private proponents in flagship ICT infrastructure PPP projects of the Philippines: the national broadband plan, the national single window, the national advance passenger information system, sin products track & trace system for excise tax collection, and agricultural import track and trace system.

Geronimo was an associate lawyer at SyCip Salazar Hernandez & Gatmaitan, and was a member of its special projects, and banking, finance, and securities departments. In this capacity, he assisted in significant acquisitions, such as the Uber-Grab deal in the Philippines, the acquisition of Metro Pacific hospitals by KKR & Co. Inc., the Meralco PowerGen acquisition of Global Business Power Corp., and the equity interest acquisition in the Manila Light Rail Transit System Line 1 by Sumitomo Corporation. His participation extended to national PPP projects, including the Manila Light Rail Transit System Line 1 Concession Agreement, the O&M Concession Agreement for Clark International Airport, and the CBK hydroelectric power plant complex. He also participated inreclamation projects under local government PPP and/or joint venture, such as the Mactan North Reclamation Project, the Manila Bay Land Reclamation Project, and the Cavite Reclamation Project. Geronimo was involved in notable financing transactions, such as the syndicated financing of energy and infrastructure projects, including the Arayat Solar Power Plant and the Digos Solar Power Plant, and numerous aviation financing transactions. He assisted in various securities offerings and capital market transactions, including the stock rights offering of AC Energy, issuance of convertible perpetual securities to San Miguel Corp., the bond offering of NLEX, BPI, and Del Monte Pacific, and the initial public offering of Aseana City.

Geronimo also assisted in providing regulatory advice to global tech companies, including FAANG entities. He advised in comprehensive nuclear legislation, waste-to-energy legislation, energy storage systems legislation, restructuring of the national grid, among others. He also advised on the amendment of the economic provisions of the 1987 Philippine Constitution, the grant, amendment & revocation of legislative franchises of public utilities, development of national PPP policy, foreign investment policy reforms, special economic zones and free trade zones policy, offshore financial center development, variable capital company formations, and restructuring of the civil aviation authority (CAAP).

‍Geronimo is a law professor at University of the Philippines College of Law, De La Salle University Tañada-Diokno College of Law, Far Eastern University Institute of Law, San Sebastian College-Recoletos School of Law, University of Makati School of Law, ONE School, and he is a finance professor at De La Salle University RVB College of Business. He taught banking, corporate and securities law, international business agreements, credit transactions, negotiable instruments, obligations and contracts law, transportation and public utilities law, philosophy of law, legal history, statutory construction, and thesis writing. Geronimo is the author of the book “Law and Finance” and various academic publications on corporate governance, tax, and financial law. His academic work has been used in a securities litigation case in the U.S., in banking and financial legislations, and in foreign investments policy of the Philippines.

• Founder & CEO @ Geronimo Law (www.geronimo.law)

• Founder & CEO @ Strago (www.strago.finance)

• Associate @ SyCip Salazar Hernandez & Gatmaitan

• Division Chief @ Office of the President of the Philippines – Governance Commission for GOCCs

• Court Attorney @ Supreme Court

• Chief Legal Officer @ Oz Finance

• Consultant @ World Bank

• Legal Consultant for Energy @ Senate of the Philippines

• Legal Consultant for Legislative Franchises and Public Utilities @ House of Representatives

• National Broadband Advisor @ DICT and NEDA

• PPP Consultant @ PPP Center

• Professor @ University of the Philippines College of Law

• Professor @ De La Salle University - College of Law

• Professor @ De La Salle University - College of Business

• Professor @ Far Eastern University Institute of Law

• Professor @ San Sebastian Recoletos College of Law

• Professor @ University of Makati School of Law

Education:

• Law, University of the Philippines College of Law

• Finance, De La Salle University - Manila