28 episodes
The New Cold War: Risk, Sanctions, Compliance Stroock & Stroock & Lavan LLP
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Politics and legal risks are now intertwined like never before. The Biden Administration has identified anti-corruption as a core U.S. national security interest. It recently imposed unprecedented sanctions on Russia including on its Central Bank, the president and foreign minister. And in his State of the Union address, President Biden said “The U.S. Department of Justice is assembling a dedicated task force to go after the crimes of Russian oligarchs. We are joining with our European allies to find and seize their yachts, their luxury apartments, their private jets.” At the same time, the Department of Justice has identified state-sponsored cybercrime and foreign attempts to influence U.S. politics as top enforcement priorities. What does the convergence of national security and law enforcement mean for businesses? How can they protect themselves in this new environment? What are the next enforcement trends?
In this podcast, Stroock Partner Tom Firestone, who previously served as resident legal adviser at the U.S. Embassy in Moscow, will discuss these and related subjects with leading experts from the worlds of business, politics, journalism and academia.
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Episode 28: “TikTok: Will It Be Banned?”
On this week’s episode, Stroock Partner Tom Firestone talks to Bloomberg reporter Anna Edgerton, who specializes in tech and national security issues, and recently covered the congressional hearing on TikTok.
Tom and Anna discuss these and other questions:
What is the relationship between TikTok, ByteDance, and the Chinese Communist Party (CCP)? Does TikTok pose a threat to U.S. national security? If so, how serious is the threat? What is “Project Texas”? Is it sufficient to protect users’ personal data? What are the main proposals on the Hill to ban TikTok and how likely are they to succeed? -
Episode 27: “The Yukos Case: 20 Years Later”
On this week’s episode, Stroock Partner Tom Firestone talks to Pavel Ivlev, a former lawyer for Yukos and Mikhail Khodorkovsky who was the subject of an Interpol Red Notice and sentenced in absentia to 10 years in prison for his role in the case.
Tom and Pavel discuss:
The real causes of the Yukos case What the case tells us about the relationship of business and politics in Russia How the case will be viewed in Russian history The effectiveness of sanctions on Russian oligarchs -
Episode 26: “International Sports: Politics, Corruption, Doping and Compliance”
On this week’s episode, Stroock Partner Tom Firestone talks to Vladas Stankevicius, an experienced corporate compliance lawyer who served as an international expert for World Athletics, where he lead efforts to ingrain governance reforms and a culture of zero tolerance for doping. He also advised the World Athletics Taskforce chair as to the fitness for purpose of the compliance program of the Russian Athletics Federation.
Tom and Vladas discuss:
The current World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) and International Olympic Committee (IOC) sanctions against Russia Proposals to ban Russian and Belarussian athletes from the 2024 Olympics The 2014 Sochi Olympics doping scandal and the Rodchenkov Anti-Doping Act Various integrity violations in sports Best compliance practices and how to clean up sports -
Episode 25: “Can the U.S. Seize the Russian Central Bank’s Assets?”
After the Russian invasion of Ukraine, the U.S. government froze billions of dollars in Russian Central Bank assets held in the United States. What can be done with these assets? Can they be permanently seized and used to help Ukraine? On this week’s episode, Stroock Partner Tom Firestone talks to Ingrid Wuerth Brunk, Helen Strong Curry Chair in International Law at Vanderbilt Law School. Ingrid is a distinguished scholar of international law and has written extensively on foreign sovereign immunity, transnational litigation, sanctions and other issues related to international law.
Tom and Ingrid discuss these and other questions:
Can the U.S. government seize the Russian Central Bank assets? Are these assets protected by sovereign immunity? If the U.S. government seizes these assets, can they be used to help Ukraine? Should Russia be designated as a state sponsor of terrorism? Would designating Russia as a state sponsor of terrorism deprive it of sovereign immunity? -
Episode 24: “Elephants and the Mafia: Combatting Criminal Wildlife Trafficking”
On this week’s episode, Stroock Partner Tom Firestone talks to Bruce Ohr, formerly head of the Organized Crime and Racketeering Section and the Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Forces at DOJ and now a strategist with the International Wildlife Trust, an NGO committed to combatting illegal wildlife trafficking through a distinct focus on transnational organized crime groups.
Tom and Bruce discuss:
How does international organized crime contribute to species endangerment? Which species are most endangered? How lucrative is illegal wildlife trafficking? How do criminal syndicates obtain, transport and sell protected wildlife? How can NGOs work with national law enforcement to combat illegal wildlife trafficking? -
Episode 23: “Former FBI Acting Director Andrew McCabe”
On this week’s episode, Stroock Partner Tom Firestone talks to Andrew McCabe, former Acting Director of the FBI and now a CNN commentator and professor at George Mason University, and author of The Threat: How the FBI Protects America in the Age of Terror and Trump.
Tom and Andrew discuss:
The Trump Mar-a-Lago documents case The most serious criminal threats to U.S. national security and U.S. businesses Russian cyber attacks The greatest challenge that the FBI is facing Politically motivated violence in the U.S.