Navigating the New Reality: Providing Perspective for Businesses in APAC in the Era of Evolving Trade Controls

Back to SCCA Asia Pacific Legal Congress 2025

In today’s fragmented world, governments globally are increasingly leveraging sanctions and export controls as foreign policy tools. Companies across industries are grappling with the repercussions of the shifting geopolitical landscape that present legal, compliance, and reputational challenges. This panel will focus on emerging regulatory and enforcement trends in sanctions and export controls from the U.S. and beyond, compliance challenges unique to businesses in APAC, and how companies in the region may prepare and adopt strategies to deal with evolving trade controls.

Speakers

David A. Newman – Co-chair of the National Security and Crisis Management practices, Morrison Foerster, Washington, D.C.

David Newman, co-chair of the firm’s National Security and Crisis Management practices, draws upon his deep experience in private practice and as a senior U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) and White House official to represent clients in high stakes matters involving national security, geopolitical risk, emerging technology, and crisis management.

A former Principal Deputy Assistant Attorney General for National Security (PDAAG) and Associate Deputy Attorney General, David advises companies navigating cybersecurity incidents, sanctions and export control enforcement, Committee on Foreign Investments in the United States (CFIUS) reviews, and Foreign Agents Registration Act (FARA) investigations. He has extensive experience conducting internal and government-facing cross-border investigations and representing clients in congressional inquiries and hearings.

Drawing on his background working on complex and sensitive matters in private practice and at the highest levels of the U.S. government, he understands how regulators and prosecutors think, enabling him to provide highly strategic counsel to clients across a broad range of industries. He has frequently served as a liaison between clients and government agencies, including DOJ, the FBI, and other U.S. national security and intelligence agencies, and counseled clients on emerging regulation involving new technologies. 

In addition to his work at DOJ, earlier in his career David served as Associate White House Counsel and in various roles on the staff of the National Security Council. In his White House posts, David regularly advised the president and other senior administration officials on a range of complex matters affecting the federal government and oversaw a broad portfolio that spanned national security priorities, crisis response and preparedness planning, new data and technology initiatives, criminal justice policy, and civil rights litigation.

B. Chen Zhu – Head of Sanctions and Export Controls Practice for Asia, Morrison Foerster, Hong Kong

B. Chen Zhu is the head of Morrison Foerster’s Sanctions and Export Controls practice for Asia and leads the firm’s government and internal investigations in Greater China. Chen has extensive experience advising on U.S. economic sanctions, Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA), anti-money laundering, securities and accounting fraud, and related governance and corporate compliance issues.

Chen frequently advises Chinese, U.S., and European financial institutions on U.S. economic sanctions and export controls in the context of contentious enforcement matters involving OFAC and other U.S. regulators. He also frequently assists banks and corporates with setting up practical, risk-based sanctions and export controls compliance programs.

In addition, Chen has led numerous FCPA enforcement actions by U.S. regulators against some of the largest major life sciences, technology, and financial services companies over the past twenty years. He regularly counsels company boards and senior management on corporate investigations and compliance remediation.

His clients include major state-owned enterprises, multinational corporations, and executives from financial services, life sciences, technology, consumer retail, and hospitality sectors, with a particular focus on Greater China, Japan, South Korea, and Southeast Asia.

Chen has been recognized as Up and Coming in Corporate Investigations/Anti-Corruption (International Firms) by Chambers Greater China 2024-2025 and as a Future Leader by Lexology Index Investigations 2019 – 2024. He is also recommended in China/Hong Kong for regulatory/compliance and dispute resolution: litigation by Legal 500 2022 – 2025 and for life sciences and healthcare by Legal 500 2024 – 2025.

Chen is a frequent presenter at legal conferences and client workshops relating to anti-corruption, economic sanctions, and white-collar enforcement. He is a native speaker of English and Mandarin.

Rishikeesh Wijaya – Associate, Investigations + White Collar Defense, Morrison Foerster, Singapore

Rishikeesh Wijaya is an associate in Morrison Foerster’s Singapore office, specializing in government-facing and internal investigations, white-collar crime, and ethics and compliance matters throughout the Asia Pacific region. Rishi has advised multinational corporations and state-owned enterprises on internal and government-facing investigations, and regulatory compliance across numerous jurisdictions in the Asia Pacific region. His expertise spans areas such as bribery, fraud, sanctions, export controls, money laundering, and cybersecurity. He also provides guidance on developing and strengthening compliance programs, policies, and procedures to mitigate relevant business risks.

For more information about the event or if you would like to attend, please reach out to the Singapore Marketing Team at SGMarketing@mofo.com.