Early in the COVID-19 pandemic, when Rogeria Gieremek, global head of compliance for LATAM Airlines, was asked whether the carrier could make a donation without passing through compliance, the Brazil-educated lawyer says her response was: “No, but I can do it for you in two hours.”

The COVID-19 pandemic has unfolded like a high-stakes game of chase for compliance officers in Latin America and their outside legal counsel, who say they must stand firm in a region prone to corruption and fraud, even in the best of times.