EMBARGOED!

BIS 2025 Year in Review | Episode 93

Host Tim O'Toole is joined by guests Melissa Burgess (Counsel at Miller & Chevalier) and Michael Burton (Partner at Jacobsen Burton Kelley) to make their draft picks from a pool of Bureau of Industry and Security (BIS) actions in 2025. Throughout the draft, they dissect each other’s choices, issue some compliments, suggest New Year's resolutions for the agency, and propose a new test for BIS agents. Picks include what BIS didn't do in 2025, the Affiliates Rule, and lifting comprehensive sanctions on Syria.

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Thanks to our guests for joining us:

Michael Burton: https://www.jbktradelaw.com/michael-l-burton 

Melissa Burgess: https://www.millerchevalier.com/professional/melissa-burgess 

Questions? Contact us at podcasts@milchev.com.

EMBARGOED! is not intended and cannot be relied on as legal advice; the content only reflects the thoughts and opinions of its hosts. EMBARGOED! is intelligent talk about sanctions, export controls, and all things international trade for trade nerds and normal human beings alike. Each episode will feature deep thoughts and hot takes about the latest headline-grabbing developments in this area of the law, as well as some below-the-radar items to keep an eye on. Subscribe wherever you get your podcasts for new episodes so you don't miss out!

OFAC 2025 Year in Review | EMBARGOED! Episode 92

Happy new year from your friends at EMBARGOED! Tim and Miller & Chevalier's Caroline Watson and Collmann Griffin draft the most significant OFAC events of 2025. The draft is three rounds and picks include sanctions relating to Iran, narco-trafficking, Yemen, Russia, Venezuela, Syria, China, and the International Criminal Court (ICC).

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Thanks to our guests for joining us:

Collmann Griffin: https://www.millerchevalier.com/professional/collmann-griffin 

Caroline Watson: https://www.millerchevalier.com/professional/caroline-j-watson 

Questions? Contact us at podcasts@milchev.com.

EMBARGOED! is not intended and cannot be relied on as legal advice; the content only reflects the thoughts and opinions of its hosts. EMBARGOED! is intelligent talk about sanctions, export controls, and all things international trade for trade nerds and normal human beings alike. Each episode will feature deep thoughts and hot takes about the latest headline-grabbing developments in this area of the law, as well as some below-the-radar items to keep an eye on. Subscribe wherever you get your podcasts for new episodes so you don't miss out!

Shipping Compliance with Sanctions Expert Claire O'Neill McCleskey | EMBARGOED! Episode 91

On this episode of EMBARGOED!, host Tim O'Toole is joined by Miller & Chevalier's Collmann Griffin and Claire O'Neill McCleskey, former Head of the OFAC Compliance Division, to discuss sanctions compliance in the shipping industry.

Roadmap:

• Typologies
  • Iran
  • Russia, including Lukoil/Rosneft and price cap
  • North Korea
• How can you protect yourself?
  • Best commercial screening tools
  • Tips for insurers
    • Price cap
    • EU/U.S. divergence
    • Foreign Terrorist Organizations (FTOs)/cartels
  • Tips for flag registries
  • Are S2S transfers ever okay? 

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Thanks to our guests for joining us: 

Claire O'Neill McCleskey: https://www.linkedin.com/in/claire-o-neill-mccleskey/ 

Collmann Griffin: https://www.millerchevalier.com/professional/collmann-griffin 

Questions? Contact us at podcasts@milchev.com.

EMBARGOED! is not intended and cannot be relied on as legal advice; the content only reflects the thoughts and opinions of its hosts. EMBARGOED! is intelligent talk about sanctions, export controls, and all things international trade for trade nerds and normal human beings alike. Each episode will feature deep thoughts and hot takes about the latest headline-grabbing developments in this area of the law, as well as some below-the-radar items to keep an eye on. Subscribe wherever you get your podcasts for new episodes so you don't miss out!

Sanctions & Export Control Evasion with Conflict Armament Research's Damien Spleeters | EMBARGOED! Episode 90

This week, host Tim O'Toole chats with Damien Spleeters (Conflict Armament Research) and return guest Collmann Griffin (Miller & Chevalier) about how bad actors use sophisticated evasion tactics to circumvent U.S. export controls and sanctions to obtain components America's adversaries need for missiles, drones, and other weapons systems.

Roadmap:

• Background on Conflict Armament Research (CAR), particularly CAR's work in Ukraine
• Western components that end up in Russian, Iranian, North Korean, and other weapons systems and how this overlaps with the BIS Common High Priority List (CHPL)
• A walkthrough of how an item makes its way from a U.S.-owned fabricator to a foreign weapons system
• Screening/due diligence steps recommended for manufacturers and distributors of high-priority items

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Thanks to our guests for joining us: 

Damien Spleeters: https://www.linkedin.com/in/damienspleeters/

Collmann Griffin: https://www.millerchevalier.com/professional/collmann-griffin 

Questions? Contact us at podcasts@milchev.com.

EMBARGOED! is not intended and cannot be relied on as legal advice; the content only reflects the thoughts and opinions of its hosts. EMBARGOED! is intelligent talk about sanctions, export controls, and all things international trade for trade nerds and normal human beings alike. Each episode will feature deep thoughts and hot takes about the latest headline-grabbing developments in this area of the law, as well as some below-the-radar items to keep an eye on. Subscribe wherever you get your podcasts for new episodes so you don't miss out!

South of the Border | EMBARGOED! Episode 89

On this episode of EMBARGOED!, host Tim O'Toole is joined by Matteson Ellis (Latin America Practice Lead at Miller & Chevalier) discuss all the sanctions news from Latin America, with a focus on recent developments in Mexico.

Roadmap:

• Introduction, Matt goes to Mexico
• Foreign Terrorist Organizations (FTOs) and LatAm
• Mexico, FTOs, and FinCEN orders
• What's happening on the ground
• The rest of LatAm
• Looking into the crystal ball

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Thanks to Matt Ellis for joining us: https://www.millerchevalier.com/professional/matteson-ellis  

Questions? Contact us at podcasts@milchev.com.

EMBARGOED! is not intended and cannot be relied on as legal advice; the content only reflects the thoughts and opinions of its hosts. EMBARGOED! is intelligent talk about sanctions, export controls, and all things international trade for trade nerds and normal human beings alike. Each episode will feature deep thoughts and hot takes about the latest headline-grabbing developments in this area of the law, as well as some below-the-radar items to keep an eye on. Subscribe wherever you get your podcasts for new episodes so you don't miss out!

Semiconductor Export Controls (Part 2): AI, SME, and the BIS 50% Rule | EMBARGOED! Episode 88

On this episode of EMBARGOED!, host Tim O'Toole, Miller & Chevalier Counsel Melissa Burgess and Collmann Griffin, and guest Chris Chamberlain of Morrison & Foerster continue their discussion of AI chip-related export controls, musing about Infrastructure-as-a-Service (IaaS) considerations, semiconductor manufacturing equipment (SME), and the much-anticipated BIS release of a 50 Percent Rule for the Entity List.

Roadmap:

• May 13, 2025, BIS Policy Statement on training AI models
• Controls on SME and balancing foreign policy, national security, and other reasons for control under the EAR
• Not reasons for control: Economic and other factors BIS does not consider determinative when assessing controls
• Pros and cons of BIS having an OFAC-style 50 Percent Rule for the Entity List

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Thanks to our guests for joining us:

Chris Chamberlain: https://www.mofo.com/people/chris-chamberlain 

Melissa Burgess: https://www.millerchevalier.com/professional/melissa-burgess 

Collmann Griffin: https://www.millerchevalier.com/professional/collmann-griffin 

Questions? Contact us at podcasts@milchev.com.

EMBARGOED! is not intended and cannot be relied on as legal advice; the content only reflects the thoughts and opinions of its hosts. EMBARGOED! is intelligent talk about sanctions, export controls, and all things international trade for trade nerds and normal human beings alike. Each episode will feature deep thoughts and hot takes about the latest headline-grabbing developments in this area of the law, as well as some below-the-radar items to keep an eye on. Subscribe wherever you get your podcasts for new episodes so you don't miss out!

Semiconductor Export Controls (Part 1): AI Chips and the "Secret Entity List" | EMBARGOED! Episode 87

On this episode of EMBARGOED!, host Tim O'Toole is joined by Miller & Chevalier Counsel Melissa Burgess and Collmann Griffin, and guest Chris Chamberlain of Morrison & Foerster to review the evolution of export controls on AI chips from October 2022 to the present. The discussion explores the variety of tools BIS has employed as it wrestles with tailoring controls, the value of BIS "is informed" letters, and chip diversion.

Roadmap:

• The October 7 IFR and a brief tour of subsequent changes through May 2025
• Identifying a problem versus tailoring controls: Troubleshooting how to restrict access to the most advanced compute resources and the tools necessary to manufacture them
• Assessing the benefits to both BIS and industry of "is informed" letters
• Predictions for the next iteration of the AI Diffusion Rule
• A diversion into the problem of diversion: Red flags and tactics identified in the wild

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Thanks to our guests for joining us:

Chris Chamberlain: https://www.mofo.com/people/chris-chamberlain 

Melissa Burgess: https://www.millerchevalier.com/professional/melissa-burgess 

Collmann Griffin: https://www.millerchevalier.com/professional/collmann-griffin 

Questions? Contact us at podcasts@milchev.com.

EMBARGOED! is not intended and cannot be relied on as legal advice; the content only reflects the thoughts and opinions of its hosts. EMBARGOED! is intelligent talk about sanctions, export controls, and all things international trade for trade nerds and normal human beings alike. Each episode will feature deep thoughts and hot takes about the latest headline-grabbing developments in this area of the law, as well as some below-the-radar items to keep an eye on. Subscribe wherever you get your podcasts for new episodes so you don't miss out!

EU Sanctions for American Lawyers | Episode 86

Host Tim O'Toole discusses the latest EU sanctions on Russia with returning guests Collmann Griffin (Miller & Chevalier) and Dr. Tobias Ackermann (BLOMSTEIN). They focus on EU sanctions on Russia imposed that may be stricter than or conflict with their U.S. counterparts.

Roadmap:

• Logistics of the sanctions
• Imports and purchase - aluminum and Russian petroleum
• Software
• Finance and crypto
• "Best efforts" - EU operators that own or control non-EU entities, including U.S. companies with EU-based subsidiaries, are required to use “best efforts” to ensure that those entities do not undermine EU sanctions against Russia and Belarus
• "No Russia" and "No Belarus" clauses
• Future measures

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Thanks to our guests for joining us:

Collmann Griffin: https://www.millerchevalier.com/professional/collmann-griffin 

Dr. Tobias Ackermann: https://www.blomstein.com/en/team/dr-tobias-ackermann 

Questions? Contact us at podcasts@milchev.com.

EMBARGOED! is not intended and cannot be relied on as legal advice; the content only reflects the thoughts and opinions of its hosts. EMBARGOED! is intelligent talk about sanctions, export controls, and all things international trade for trade nerds and normal human beings alike. Each episode will feature deep thoughts and hot takes about the latest headline-grabbing developments in this area of the law, as well as some below-the-radar items to keep an eye on. Subscribe wherever you get your podcasts for new episodes so you don't miss out!

Die Kunst Des Erfolgs: Navigating Foreign Investment Deals Through U.S., EU, and German Regulators | EMBARGOED! Episode 85

On this episode of EMBARGOED! Host Tim O'Toole is joined by guests Melissa Burgess (Miller & Chevalier) and Dr. Tobias Ackerman (BLOMSTEIN) to compare and contrast the foreign investment review regimes in the EU and Germany with the CFIUS process in the U.S.

Roadmap:

• Brief introduction to Germany's FDI regime and the EU regime
• A quick history of CFIUS
• Exploration of the types of transactions subject to review and mandatory versus voluntary filing triggers
• Summaries of the different filing and assessment processes
• Review of recent and pending FDI developments in the U.S. and EU, including the America First Investment Policy

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Thanks to our guests for joining us:

Melissa Burgess: https://www.millerchevalier.com/professional/melissa-burgess

Dr. Tobias Ackermann: https://www.blomstein.com/en/team/dr-tobias-ackermann 

Questions? Contact us at podcasts@milchev.com.

EMBARGOED! is not intended and cannot be relied on as legal advice; the content only reflects the thoughts and opinions of its hosts. EMBARGOED! is intelligent talk about sanctions, export controls, and all things international trade for trade nerds and normal human beings alike. Each episode will feature deep thoughts and hot takes about the latest headline-grabbing developments in this area of the law, as well as some below-the-radar items to keep an eye on. Subscribe wherever you get your podcasts for new episodes so you don't miss out!

Mixing It Up with Tornado Cash, Part 2 | EMBARGOED! Episode 84

Host Tim O'Toole is joined by fellow Miller & Chevalier Member Leah Moushey to unpack the recent conviction of Tornado Cash co-founder Roman Storm for operating an unlicensed money transmitting business, an outcome that surprised many given the jury's deadlock on the more severe money laundering and sanctions charges.  

The discussion explores how this case reflects the evolving enforcement landscape at the intersection of crypto, DeFi, and national security. Tim and Leah delve into the broader implications of the verdict including challenges regulators face in applying traditional AML and sanctions frameworks to new technology, including decentralized platforms.

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Thanks to Leah Moushey for joining us: https://www.millerchevalier.com/professional/leah-moushey 

Questions? Contact us at podcasts@milchev.com.

EMBARGOED! is not intended and cannot be relied on as legal advice; the content only reflects the thoughts and opinions of its hosts. EMBARGOED! is intelligent talk about sanctions, export controls, and all things international trade for trade nerds and normal human beings alike. Each episode will feature deep thoughts and hot takes about the latest headline-grabbing developments in this area of the law, as well as some below-the-radar items to keep an eye on. Subscribe wherever you get your podcasts for new episodes so you don't miss out!