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Crowell & Moring Hosts ACSS New York Chapter Event on Cartels, Foreign Terrorist Organizations, and Financial Crime Compliance

By Caroline Brown & Anand Sithian on June 10, 2026
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On June 4, 2026, Crowell Partners Caroline Brown and Anand Sithian hosted the ACSS New York Chapter at the New York office for an in-person panel discussion titled “Renewed Focus on Cartels, Transnational Criminal Organizations, and Foreign Terrorist Organizations: Compliance Challenges for Financial Institutions and Multinationals.” The sold-out event brought together practitioners from the financial crime compliance community for a timely and substantive conversation at the intersection of sanctions, narcotics trafficking, and AML risk.

The panel featured Crowell’s Caroline Brown alongside Ray Donovan, former Special Agent in Charge of the DEA and lead agent in the capture of Joaquín “El Chapo” Guzmán, now CEO of Stack21 Solutions, and Joe Twinem, former OFAC and FinCEN official and Global Sanctions/AML Strategy Leader at BNP Paribas.  Howard Spieler, Citibank, moderated the panel discussion.

The audience reflected a broad cross-section of the financial crime ecosystem, bringing together sanctions and AML compliance professionals from major global financial institutions, attorneys from leading law firms, professionals from the Big 4 and advisory firms, and specialists from compliance intelligence and data companies.

The panel tackled the most pressing questions facing compliance professionals today, including the implications of cartel Foreign Terrorist Organization (FTO) designations for sanctions and AML exposure, the deepening role of Chinese and Indian networks in the fentanyl supply chain, and how OFAC, FinCEN, and allied regulators are deploying sanctions to disrupt trafficking networks. Panelists also offered practical guidance on identifying red flags linked to cartel activity and narco-financing, and closed with a candid discussion about whether the existing sanctions toolkit is equal to the scale of the threat.

Following the program, guests enjoyed a post-panel quiz before networking over drinks and appetizers. Thank you to our panelists, attendees, and the ACSS New York Chapter for making this event such a success.

Photo of Caroline Brown Caroline Brown

Caroline E. Brown is a partner in Crowell & Moring’s Washington, D.C. office and a member of the firm’s White Collar & Regulatory Enforcement and International Trade groups and the steering committee of the firm’s National Security Practice. She provides strategic advice to…

Caroline E. Brown is a partner in Crowell & Moring’s Washington, D.C. office and a member of the firm’s White Collar & Regulatory Enforcement and International Trade groups and the steering committee of the firm’s National Security Practice. She provides strategic advice to clients on national security matters, including anti-money laundering (AML) and economic sanctions compliance and enforcement challenges, investigations, and cross border transactions, including review by the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States (CFIUS) and the Committee on Foreign Investment in the U.S. Telecommunications Services Sector (Team Telecom).

Caroline brings over a decade of experience as a national security attorney at the U.S. Departments of Justice and the Treasury. At the U.S. Department of Justice’s National Security Division, she worked on counterespionage, cybersecurity, and counterterrorism matters and investigations, and gained unique insight into issues surrounding data privacy and cybersecurity. In that role, she also sat on both CFIUS and Team Telecom and made recommendations to DOJ senior leadership regarding whether to mitigate, block, or allow transactions under review by those interagency committees. She also negotiated, drafted, and reviewed mitigation agreements, monitored companies’ compliance with those agreements, and coordinated and supervised investigations of breaches of those agreements.

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Photo of Anand Sithian Anand Sithian

For high-stakes internal and government investigations and complex regulatory and compliance matters, companies and individuals look to Anand to provide strategic advice and counseling, particularly on issues relating to the Bank Secrecy Act and Anti-Money Laundering (“BSA/AML”), economic sanctions, and digital assets. Anand

…

For high-stakes internal and government investigations and complex regulatory and compliance matters, companies and individuals look to Anand to provide strategic advice and counseling, particularly on issues relating to the Bank Secrecy Act and Anti-Money Laundering (“BSA/AML”), economic sanctions, and digital assets. Anand is resident in the firm’s New York office and a member of the firm’s International Trade, White Collar and Regulatory Enforcement, and Financial Services groups.

A former federal prosecutor, Anand leverages his government experience to guide clients through complex white-collar matters, including grand jury and regulatory investigations, enforcement proceedings, and internal investigations. Anand has deep experience in parallel criminal and civil investigations and proceedings, and often represents clients in defending against civil lawsuits related to government investigations.

Representing some of the world’s largest banks and technology companies, Anand has addressed a wide range of issues, including economic sanctions, BSA/AML; economic sanctions and national security; payments and cryptocurrency; securities laws; and cybersecurity enforcement. In the regulatory space, Anand prides himself on providing commercial and actionable advice, including in the developing areas of digital assets, FinTech, and payments.

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  • Posted in:
    Corporate Governance and Compliance, Criminal
  • Blog:
    International Trade Law
  • Organization:
    Crowell & Moring LLP
  • Article: View Original Source

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