Conducting Effective Internal Investigations Involving U.S. Export and Sanctions Violations
Evaluating Key Issues Including: Whether to Investigate, How to Determine the Appropriate Scope, How to Manage the Privilege Issues, Handling Parallel Investigations, and More
Course Details
- smart_display Format
On-Demand
- signal_cellular_alt Difficulty Level
- work Practice Area
International
- event Date
Wednesday, October 20, 2021
- schedule Time
1:00 p.m. ET./10:00 a.m. PT
- timer Program Length
90 minutes
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This 90-minute webinar is eligible in most states for 1.5 CLE credits.
This CLE course will guide counsel on the key issues to manage when conducting effective internal investigations related to export and sanctions violations under U.S. laws and regulations. The panel will examine the primary factors to consider when determining whether, when, and how to conduct an investigation. Limiting a scattered investigatory approach, avoiding other similar pitfalls, and identifying the areas where the most efficiencies can be gained when assessing the manner in which to conduct the investigation will be reviewed.
Mr. Burney's practice focuses on representing U.S. and non-U.S. clients in the Asia-Pacific region on matters related to U.S. economic sanctions, export controls, the FCPA, and anti-money laundering laws. He has extensive experience representing clients in front of the U.S. Department of Justice, the U.S. Department of the Treasury's Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC), and the U.S. Department of Commerce's Bureau of Industry and Security (BIS). Mr. Burney's experience includes conducting cross-border investigations, filing voluntary self-disclosures, responding to subpoenas, obtaining OFAC licenses, conducting risk assessments, and representing individuals and companies seeking removal from OFAC's Specially Designated Nationals and Blocked Persons List and the BIS Entity List. He frequently advises companies investing in high-risk sectors and countries on sanctions, anti-bribery and corruption, and export control-related pre-acquisition due diligence and post-acquisition compliance program implementation.
Ms. Cinelli is the leader of the firm’s international trade and national security practice. As a practitioner for more than 30 years, she counsels clients in the defense and high-technology sectors on a broad range of issues affecting national security and export controls, including complex export compliance matters, audits, cross-border due diligence, and export enforcement, both classified and unclassified. Ms. Cinelli handles complex civil and criminal export-related investigations and advises on transactional due diligence for regulatory requirements involving government contracts, export policy, and compliance, as well as settlement of export enforcement actions before the U.S. departments of State, Commerce, Treasury, and Defense, and related agencies. Ms. Cinelli regularly speaks and writes on international arms trade, technology transfer, national security cross-border requirements, and export issues. She has participated in panel discussions related to CFIUS and technology transfer hosted by the Center for Strategic and International Studies and the Council on Foreign Relations.
When confronted with potential export violations, having a process in place to identify where to start and how to develop a plan to conduct the review is essential. Addressing the foundational issues of who, what, where, why, when, and how will help structure the review and, at the same time, provide the necessary information required to inform management and the board, and engage with the relevant U.S. government agencies responsible for export compliance and enforcement. In addition to these foundational issues, internal investigations must also take into consideration foreign laws that may directly impact the course of the investigation. These include foreign data protection laws and, increasingly, foreign laws that block U.S. laws such as the EU Blocking Statute and China’s Anti-Foreign Sanctions Law.
When undertaking an internal investigation, companies and their counsel would benefit from a thorough analysis of the legal and practical issues, including whether to conduct the investigation, how to conduct it in a cost-effective manner, how to manage privilege and foreign data protection issues, confidentiality concerns, and conflicts of law (e.g., China’s Anti-Foreign Sanctions Law, among others).
With increasing regulatory scrutiny, including by foreign data regulators, counsel must carefully weigh whether to conduct an internal investigation into suspected or alleged violations and how to conduct the investigation in the most effective manner, especially where the data may be located outside the United States.
Listen as our authoritative panel of international trade attorneys examines the factors to consider in determining whether and how to conduct an internal investigation for export violations. The panel will review the key elements and discuss the potential pitfalls that may occur along the way, including the perils of parallel investigations. The panel will offer guidance to avoid pitfalls and conduct an effective investigation.
- Internal investigations for export violations
- Discovery of an alleged violation
- Considerations for determining whether to conduct an internal investigation
- Selecting who will conduct the investigation
- Scope
- Potential pitfalls
- Parallel investigations
- Failure to address privacy and consent issues
- Waiver of privilege
- Avoiding pitfalls
- Preserving attorney-client privilege
- Managing interviews to balance privacy and consent concerns
- Data protection
- Post-investigation strategies
- Remedial action
- Minimizing the risk of further government investigation
The panel will review these and other key questions:
- What are the key considerations for counsel conducting internal investigations?
- What can counsel do to protect privileges and confidential information during an internal investigation?
- What steps can companies take to minimize the risk of a government investigation or violating foreign laws?
