John A. Detzner, resident in the firm's Washington, D.C. office, has extensive experience in counseling domestic and foreign clients in international trade policy and regulation, particularly the International Traffic in Arms Regulations (ITAR), the Export Administration Regulations (EAR), the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA), sanctions programs administered by the Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC), and U.S. anti-boycott laws and regulations.
In these areas Mr. Detzner assists U.S. and foreign corporations and individuals in criminal and administrative investigations and enforcement actions; conducts internal investigations and prepares related voluntary disclosure reports; manages internal and external audits; supervises due diligence reviews of prospective mergers and acquisitions; develops and implements compliance programs, training programs, and other corrective actions; and assists clients in commodity jurisdiction and product classifications, licensing and other governmental approvals, and compliance planning related to overseas procurement activity, joint venture partners, distributors, and marketing representatives. He is fluent in Spanish and conducts his work in both English and Spanish.
Mr. Detzner also advises clients on Buy American Act and Trade Agreements Act compliance and related offshore procurement planning; Defense Department FMS and FMF Programs; ATF-controlled imports; and U.S. import regulations concerning rules of origin, tariff preferences, ruling requests, and seizures.
Mr. Detzner is a graduate of Harvard Law School (J.D. 1980) and Harvard University (A.B. 1977). He serves on the Steering Group of the ABA Committee on Export Controls and Economic Sanctions. He is a member of the Board of Advisers to the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act Reporter, and is a former co-chair of the ABA Task Force on International Standards for Corrupt Practices. Mr. Detzner serves also as a volunteer attorney for the Small Business Administration's Export Legal Assistance Network.
He is a member of the District of Columbia bar (Member, International Section) and Illinois bar, the American Bar Association (Section of International Law and Practice; Former Co-Chair, Task Force on Foreign Corrupt Practices; Steering Group, Export Controls and Economic Sections Committee; Latin America and Caribbean Committee; Section of Public Contract Law; and Section of Business Law). He also is a member of the Inter-American Bar Association (Committee of Commercial Law and Procedure), the Inter-American Dialogue, and the Chilean-American Chamber of Commerce.
Mr. Detzner has been admitted to practice before a number of federal courts, including the U.S. Supreme Court, U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit, U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia, U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia, U.S. Court of International Trade, U.S. Court of Federal Claims, and U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois.
Representative Matters:
- Implemented, in coordination with an ongoing Justice Department criminal investigation and related State Department directed disclosure request, a comprehensive internal ITAR compliance review of affiliated U.S. and foreign companies located in five countries on three continents; working closely with the corporate director of export compliance, provided daily related export compliance counseling and corrective actions, prepared numerous related voluntary and directed disclosure reports, assisted the companies in implementing additional corrective actions and compliance programs, provided training, and coordinated related efforts and communications with State Department enforcement officials.
- Supervised internal ITAR and EAR reviews of foreign national and dual national employees of a multinational company's approximately 35 facilities throughout the world, and prepared related voluntary and directed disclosure reports to State and Commerce Departments.
- Coordinated a publicly traded company's internal investigation of alleged FCPA violations by the company's foreign subsidiary, and prepared and presented a related voluntary disclosure report to the Justice Department and the SEC, resulting in no action taken against the company.
- Conducted an internal FCPA review of a U.S. parent company's foreign subsidiary located in Latin America, including Spanish language interviews and review of Spanish language documents and correspondence, assisted the parent company with confirmation and evaluation of facts, implemented related corrective actions, and provided related training in Spanish.
- Prepared a multinational telecommunications company's comprehensive Commerce Department classification request involving a new product, multiple parts and components, related development and operating technology, and related development and operating software, and obtained a favorable response enabling the company to plan and implement offshore manufacturing activity while ensuring full EAR compliance.
- Prepared a small company's commodity jurisdiction request for a new product developed under a Defense Department contract as a component of a military defense system, and obtained a State Department favorable determination of EAR jurisdiction to simplify the company's related international marketing and sales activity.
- Assisted a multinational manufacturing company with OFAC reviews involving de minimis issues, foreign subsidiary activity, and potential U.S. person involvement, and prepared a related OFAC advisory opinion request resulting in OFAC's confirmation of permissibility of the proposed activity.
- Assisted numerous private and publicly held companies in due diligence compliance reviews of proposed acquisitions, and coordinated and reviewed related voluntary disclosures by target companies, and related indemnification provisions, prior to acquisition.
- Coordinated internal investigations for numerous large and small U.S. and foreign companies in the aerospace, defense, telecommunications, computer, software, electronics and other manufacturing industries, prepared approximately 100 voluntary and directed disclosure reports, and assisted the companies in developing and implementing related compliance programs and other corrective actions.
Publications:
"FCPA, ITAR, EAR y OFAC: Alcance Extraterritorial a Compañías No Estadounidenses y Programas Relacionados a su Cumplimiento," Revista Derecho de los Negocios, No. 234, March 2010 (Madrid).
"Compañías y Personas No Estadounidenses y la FCPA: La Ley Contra Prácticas Corruptas en el Extranjero," Foreign Corrupt Practices Act Reporter (April 2010).
"Model Foreign Consultant Compliance Program for Foreign Corrupt Practices Act," ABA-CLE National Institute on the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act: 2002, 2001, 2000, 1999, and 1998.
"Model Company Policy and Procedure for Foreign Corrupt Practices Act," ABA-CLE National Institute on the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act: 2002, 2001, 2000, 1999, and 1998.
"Challenges Facing Public Sector Procurement in the United States," Inter-American Development Bank, Seminar on Efficiency and Transparency in Public Sector Procurement, February 26-27, 1998 (co-author).
"In Chile, Environmental Law Awaits Regulations," National Law Journal, December 23, 1996, Section C, pp. 4-6 (co-author).
"Chile's Environmental Framework Law: Considerations for Foreign Investors," NAFTA and the Environment, Martinus Nijhoff Publishing, 1996 (co-author).
"Doing Business in Post-Devaluation Mexico," Inter-American Trade and Investment Law, February 1995 (co-author).
"Foreign Investment in Chile," Corporate Counsel's International Adviser, September 1994.
