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 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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Events August 13, 2020

Martin De Luca to Discuss Handling Investigations with AmCham Brazil

The COVID-19 pandemic will lead to more government and internal investigations into companies, including in Brazil. Kobre & Kim’s Martin De Luca will explore how companies should handle these situations in a meeting of the Corporate Governance Committee of AmCham Brasil in São Paulo at 8:30am São Paulo time on August 14, 2020.

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Publications August 13, 2020

Kobre & Kim Analyzes First OFAC Case Against an Individual in Years for the Wall Street Journal

For the first time in several years, the U.S. Treasury Department has pursued a sanctions-related case against an individual, which could be a potential sign of things to come, Kobre & Kim’s Beau Barnes told the Wall Street Journal.

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Accolades August 12, 2020

Kobre & Kim Listed as Leading International Law Firm for India-Related Work

Kobre & Kim has been listed by India Business Law Journal as one of the “Regional and Specialist” firms among the 2020 leading international law firms for India-related work, with Kobre & Kim’s Vasu Muthyala spotlighted for his experience in cross-border government investigations and regulatory matters. 

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Publications August 10, 2020

Jason Short on OFAC Sanctions and Ransomware Payments

Businesses that fall victim to ransomware attacks will have to factor in the additional impact of U.S. Treasury Department sanctions, Kobre & Kim’s Jason Short told Legaltech News.

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Publications August 4, 2020

Benjamin Sauter on the CFTC’s Strategic Plan for Digital Assets

The U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) recently outlined its strategic plans for the regulation of cryptocurrencies by 2024. Kobre & Kim’s Benjamin Sauter sat down with Forkast.News to explain the potential implications.

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Publications July 27, 2020

Wade Weems, Nathan Park and Beau Barnes on How the U.S. Government can Hurt Chinese Social Media App “TikTok”

The U.S. cannot outright “ban” TikTok, a social media app many worry is linked to the Chinese government. However, as Kobre & Kim’s Wade Weems, Nathan Park and Beau Barnes wrote in Foreign Policy, the U.S. government still has numerous tools to use against the app.

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