Michael Brown advanced to president and CEO of Avalon Risk Management, succeeding founding partner Lisa Gelsomino in that role, the surety said Aug. 9. Brown was most recently executive vice president at the company, overseeing sales and marketing. Gelsomino plans to spend more time with her family but “will continue to serve Avalon as a Senior Advisor focusing on her continued role in the Commercial Customs Operations Advisory Committee (COAC) through various working groups,” the company said.
Gregg Sofer, former U.S. attorney for the Western District of Texas, joined Husch Blackwell in its White Collar, Internal Investigations and Compliance practice group, the firm announced Aug. 2. Sofer has a background in national security law, including experience in export controls, sanctions, trade secrets and regulatory compliance, the release said.
Breck Weigel has joined Squire Patton as part of the firm's global Litigation Practice Group in Cincinnati, the firm announced Aug. 2. He joins from GE Aviation, where he most recently served as chief compliance officer and deputy general counsel.
Brenda Barnes, co-chair of CBP’s 15th term Commercial Customs Operations Advisory Committee Export Modernization Work Group and export manager for Geo. S. Bush & Co., will retire July 29 after more than 30 years in the industry. Barnes served on several COACs and helped to produce the Export Modernization White Paper, a broad undertaking meant to serve as a road map for the export process (see 2106230056). “I have been devoted to exports for my entire career and I hope to have served its community well and for the betterment of our United States of America’s economic security,” Barnes said in a July 27 email.
The Office of the U.S. Trade Representative announced on July 22 the hiring of:
International trade lawyer Matt Lapin joined Porter Wright as a partner in the firm's Washington office, according to a June 28 press release. Lapin, previously with Torres Law, brings with him experience on export controls and international trade law, including compliance efforts with the International Traffic in Arms Regulations and Export Administration Regulations. He also advises on the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act and other domestic and international anti-bribery laws.
Paul Marquardt joined Davis Polk as a partner in its Washington, D.C.-based Financial Institutions Group, the firm announced in a June 14 news release. Marquardt previously led the foreign investment and national security practice at Cleary Gottlieb, where he worked with the Treasury Department's Office of Foreign Assets Control and the Commerce Department's Bureau of Industry and Security.
John Demers, the President Donald Trump-appointed official at the head of the Department of Justice's national security division, is leaving by his post at the end of June, a DOJ spokesperson said. The Biden administration has nominated former Uber executive Matt Olsen to replace him. Olsen is awaiting Senate confirmation. A DOJ spokesperson confirmed that Demers' departure had been pre-planned for months with June being the ultimate cutoff time for him to leave the division. Demers was originally slated to leave his role on inauguration day but was asked to stay on to aid with the transition. The national security division handles many security-related issues, from counterterrorism to export controls.
Seven senators, including Senate Foreign Relations Committee ranking member Jim Risch, R-Idaho, are asking the administration to consider removing Nicaragua from the free trade agreement with Central American countries if political conditions in that country continue to deteriorate. Risch was joined on the June 10 letter by Sens. Patrick Leahy, D-Vt., Dick Durbin, D-Ill., Marco Rubio, R-Fla., John Cornyn, R-Texas, Todd Young, R-Ind. and Bill Cassidy, R-La.
The European General Court annulled the sanctions designations of two individuals -- former Ukrainian President Viktor Fedorovych Yanukovych and his son, Oleksandr Viktorovych Yanukovych, according to two court decisions last week. The listings were dropped because the European Council had not “satisfied itself” that the Ukrainian authorities afforded the listed individuals proper rights of defense and judicial protection in the criminal proceedings on which the council relied in making its sanctions determination. Both were originally included on the EU's sanctions regime in 2014 as individuals “subject to criminal proceedings in Ukraine to investigate crimes in connection with the embezzlement of Ukrainian State funds and their illegal transfer outside Ukraine.”