Government Enforcement Defense

Our trial lawyers have extensive experience aggressively defending clients in high-profile cases against the government. Our criminal and regulatory practice is primarily cross-border, often involving simultaneous investigations by law enforcement authorities in several countries. We are one of the only firms with former U.S. prosecutors permanently stationed in offices in Asia, Europe and the Middle East.


Publications September 24, 2020

Wade Weems Weighs In on Prospects of a “Probable” TikTok Deal in Politico

The ownership over TikTok is just the latest geopolitical fight between the U.S. and China, and a recently announced deal between TikTok and Oracle is now shrouded in uncertainty. Kobre & Kim’s Wade Weems, a Shanghai-based former U.S. Department of Justice National Security Division prosecutor, offers his thoughts on the deal in Politico.

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Publications September 18, 2020

Wade Weems, Chang Liu and Nan Wang on U.S. Enforcement Risks to Wealthy Chinese Individuals

As the case of Huawei CFO Meng Wanzhou demonstrates, Chinese high-net-worth individuals can easily become targets of U.S. criminal charges and U.S. civil and regulatory penalties based on alleged economic crimes, even if they never step foot on U.S. soil. Kobre & Kim’s Wade Weems, Chang Liu and Nan Wang walk through the risks and offer some mitigation strategies in an article in China Banking News.

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Events September 18, 2020

William McGovern Joins Virtual Panel to Discuss the Role of Whistleblowers in the U.S.

Whistleblowers are behind virtually every major fraud investigation in the United States, but are whistleblowers a force for good, or a source of trouble? Kobre & Kim’s William McGovern joins a Wake Forest University Center for the Study of Capitalism virtual panel to discuss on September 22, 1pm EDT.

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Publications September 18, 2020

Wade Weems Analyzes Herbalife FCPA Settlement with Anti-Corruption Report

Herbalife Nutrition Ltd. has settled with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) and Department of Justice (DOJ) after a years-long investigation into Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA) violations in China. Kobre & Kim’s Wade Weems, a Shanghai-based former DOJ prosecutor, analyzed the settlement with the Anti-Corruption Report.

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Publications September 18, 2020

John Han, Evelyn Sheehan and Wade Weems on the Risks of Wealthy Hong Kong Individuals’ Moving Assets Abroad

China’s enactment of the Hong Kong national security law, as well as the U.S. response, have caused many Hong Kong-based ultra-high-net-worth individuals (UHNWIs) and family offices to consider moving assets out of the region. Kobre & Kim’s John Han, Evelyn Sheehan and Wade Weems analyzed the relevant risks and offered some advice in an article for Law.com International.

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Publications September 16, 2020

Wade Weems Looks at Next Steps after TikTok’s Oracle Deal with South China Morning Post

With TikTok’s partnership deal with Oracle cutting it close to the Trump administration’s September 20 deadline and falling short of an outright sale, Kobre & Kim’s Wade Weems, a Shanghai-based former U.S. Department of Justice National Security Division prosecutor, sat down with the Hong Kong-based newspaper South China Morning Post to examine the likely next steps.

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Publications September 15, 2020

Wealth Talk: Wade Weems on U.S.-China Trade War and Risks to Chinese Individuals

In the first installment of a ten-episode series partnership between Kobre & Kim’s International Private Client (IPC) team and Wealth Briefing on the spectrum of litigation scenarios facing high-net-worth individuals (HNWIs) around the world in 2020, Kobre & Kim’s Robin Rathmell sat down for a Q&A with Wade Weems, a Shanghai-based former U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) prosecutor, on risks facing international private clients in Greater China amidst ongoing U.S.-China trade tensions.

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Publications September 3, 2020

Benjamin Sauter Advocates “Taking On the CFTC” in Traders Magazine Op-Ed

The usual response of companies to subpoenas from the U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) is to cooperate. However, cooperation very often leads down a road to “organized surrender.” There is an alternate strategy that can bring success, Kobre & Kim’s Benjamin Sauter explained in an Op-Ed for Traders Magazine.

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Publications September 3, 2020

Benjamin Sirota Comments on the New International Antitrust Cooperation Framework in Compliance Week

A new framework between six antitrust agencies in five countries, including the U.S. Department of Justice and Federal Trade Commission, “confirms the increasingly cross-border nature of antitrust enforcement,” Kobre & Kim’s Benjamin Sirota told Compliance Week.

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Publications August 31, 2020

Wade Weems Analyzes World Bank Investigations from a Chinese Perspective

Like many other multilateral development banks, the World Bank Group has raised the profile of its sanctions system as it seeks to combat fraud and corruption. However, the distinctiveness of many aspects of Chinese law often makes the World Bank’s system more complicated when the two meet, as Kobre & Kim’s Wade Weems and William Weightman wrote with others in an analysis for Thomson Reuters' Practical Law.

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Publications August 19, 2020

Benjamin Sirota Contrasts U.S. and European Antitrust Regime for Crain’s New York Business

A proposed New York state antitrust law could go beyond U.S. federal standards and resemble something closer to European law. Kobre & Kim’s Benjamin Sirota, a former U.S. Department of Justice antitrust prosecutor, examines the difference in Crain’s New York Business.

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Publications August 18, 2020

Evelyn Sheehan and Beau Barnes Discuss the U.S. “Sledgehammer” Seizure of Iranian Oil in Global Trade Review

The seizure of 1.1 million barrels of Iranian oil bound for Venezuela by the U.S. government is a “heavy sledgehammer” based on “a tactical legal innovation,” Kobre & Kim’s Evelyn Sheehan and Beau Barnes said to Global Trade Review.

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Publications August 17, 2020

Evelyn Sheehan Analyzes U.S. Seizure of Iranian Oil Bound for Venezuela in S&P Global Platts

The U.S. seizure of four Iranian oil tankers carrying 1.12 million barrels to Venezuela is an “escalation” of U.S. sanctions against both countries, Kobre & Kim’s Evelyn Sheehan, a former deputy chief of the Department of Justice Southern District of Florida’s asset forfeiture division, recently told S&P Global Platts.

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Publications August 17, 2020

Wade Weems Assesses TikTok’s Legal Options in the U.S. for the South China Morning Post

The U.S. has cornered ByteDance, the Chinese parent of TikTok, leaving it with no easy options, Kobre & Kim’s Wade Weems, a Shanghai-based former U.S. Department of Justice National Security Division prosecutor, told the South China Morning Post.

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Events August 14, 2020

Vasu Muthyala Discusses Third-Party Risks from COVID-19 with AMCHAM India

The COVID-19 pandemic has increased incentives for non-compliant behavior, and companies could be held liable if their third-party suppliers break the law. Kobre & Kim’s Vasu Muthyala walked through the risks and the management strategies companies need to be aware of in order to reduce their exposure during the first session for AMCHAM India’s Anti-Corruption Compliance and Risk Management Master Class on August 13, 2020.

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