Cristina Hwang is currently the Associate General Counsel and Assistant Corporate Secretary at Hanmi Bank and Hanmi Financial Corporation, a publicly traded company with nearly $8 billion in assets.
Prior to her current position, Cristina served as Project General Counsel and managed the Commercial and Contracts Department on various international construction and engineering mega-projects at Odebrecht S.A. (now Novonor S.A.), the largest multinational engineering and construction company in Latin America, headquartered in Brazil. During her tenure at Odebrecht, she was involved in significant public and private energy and infrastructure projects across Argentina, the United States, and Africa. This role honed her ability to navigate complex legal landscapes across diverse regions, strengthening her capacity to handle international legal matters. Earlier in her career, Cristina also worked at Dentons Rattagan Arocena in Argentina, advising local and multinational companies on a wide range of general corporate issues.
Cristina is admitted to practice law in the State of California and in Buenos Aires, Argentina. She has a Law LL.B. from the University of Buenos Aires, a Master’s in Law and Economics from Torcuato Di Tella University, and an LL.M. in Business Law from UCLA School of Law, where she received a Dean’s Tuition Fellowship award.
Cristina is a Korean-Argentinean Asian Latina, daughter of Korean immigrants to Argentina. Cristina’s professional fulfillment is deeply rooted in her commitment to serving both her profession and her communities.
Honors and Recognition:
- Selected as one of Corporate Counsel Business Journal’s 50 Women to Watch for 2026 (January 2026)
- Honoree for the Public Company category and Finalist for the Los Angeles Business Journal’s 2025 Corporate Counsel Awards (October 2025)
- Finalist for the Los Angeles Business Journal’s 2024 Corporate Counsel Awards (September 2024)
- Shortlisted Nominee for the L.A. Times’ In-House Counsel Leadership Awards (September 2024)
