Global Anti-Corruption/Foreign Corrupt Practices Act Team

Anita Esslinger has a general corporate and commercial practice relating to international business transactions. She is dual-qualified as an English solicitor and an American lawyer and has been resident in the London office since 1996. Ms. Esslinger was previously resident in the Washington, D.C. office.

Ms. Esslinger advises clients in respect of distribution and marketing arrangements, licensing and related intellectual property issues, joint ventures and cross-border acquisitions. In addition, she advises clients on related UK and EU competition law issues and in connection with multi-jurisdictional merger filings.

In addition, Ms. Esslinger is a Co-Leader of the firm's Global Anti-Corruption Team (www.bryancave.com/gact).

She regularly advises clients with respect to international regulatory issues such as those involving US, UK and European export controls (both dual-use and military), sanctions laws and regulations, the UK Bribery Act 2010, the US Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA), the OECD Convention and other international corruption initiatives. In addition to providing counseling to clients in these areas, she has participated in internal investigations and due diligence efforts involving these issues, as well as the development of corporate compliance and training program materials.

Examples of Ms. Esslinger’s work in the area of anti-corruption laws and regulations include:

• Preparation of questionnaires and participation in due diligence interviews with potential agents and intermediaries, including in the Middle East, on behalf of a variety of clients, including multinational companies
• M&A due diligence in connection with a variety of acquisitions and dispositions by multinational clients
• Assistance in the development of compliance programs and auditing procedures for a number of clients and participation in internal audits
• Training presentations
• Participating in internal investigations for a number of companies
• Acting as an independent compliance monitor for an international financial organisation
• Reviewing, drafting and internationalizing compliance policies and procedures for various companies, including multinationals
• Counseling and providing opinions on a variety of issues, including in respect of the use of intermediaries and in the context of privatizations and joint ventures involving a variety of countries
• Drafting of appropriate contract provisions in a variety of transactions

She has written and spoken regularly on matters relating to international business, including on the subject of 'Trade Controls - Understanding Enforcement in the UK and EU,' 'US Antiboycott Regulations,' 'Introduction to US Economic Sanctions' and 'Trade Controls in the Financial Services Industry' at the 25th Annual Informa Global Trade Controls Conference in London in November 2012 (where she has been a regular contributor). She was a panel member speaking on 'Compliance and Internal Investigations: A UK Perspective' at the ABA 5th Annual Institute on the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act in Washington DC in October 2012. She has also spoken at the C5 6th Forum on Economic Sanctions in May 2012; at the ACI 3rd Advanced Summit on Complying with Global Encryption Controls in April 2012 in San Francisco; at the C5 European Forum on Export Controls in Brussels in February 2012 (her third consecutive year at this event); the C5 ITAR Boot Camp in London in March 2011; and the Cambridge International Symposium on Economic Crime in September 2012 (her fourth consecutive year at this event).

Civic Involvement and Honors

• Recognised for International Trade work in the 2012 edition of Expert Guides: Women in Business Law, the international legal market's leading guide to the top female legal practitioners.
• Nominated for “Best in International Trade” at Euromoney Legal Media Group’s first Women in Business Law Awards 2011.