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  1. Zelnick Kimberly
New York
Kimberly Zelnick
Global Head of Financial Institutions Disputes Group
kimberly.zelnick@freshfields.com
New York: +1 212 277 4010
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About

Kim heads up the firm’s financial institutions disputes group and is a partner in our global investigations and complex litigation practice group, based in New York.

Kim focuses her practice on crisis management as well as on the defense of white-collar criminal and SEC enforcement investigations and related civil litigation. She represents institutions and individuals in global investigations involving allegations of bribery, fraud, market manipulation, money laundering, tax evasion, terrorist financing, cartel and other anticompetitive activity.

Kim is also a key member of our data crisis response team and has deep experience managing global, cross-border, incidents. Having worked on some of the most complex international matters, she is familiar with coordinating similar matters with local counsel around the globe. She also understands how to leverage the entire team’s resources, relationships with regulators, and different practice experience to craft a holistic response that defends each aspect of your business.

Kim is also the global co-head of our sanctions and trade group and regularly advises clients on US economic sanctions and export controls, data privacy and cybersecurity, as well as matters related to FCPA compliance.

Capabilities
Data privacy and cyber security
Investigations
Regulatory and compliance advisory
Sanctions
White collar defence and corporate crime
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Additional Information

Kim’s experience includes representing:

  • an international investment bank in parallel DOJ, SEC and UK FCA investigations concerning allegations of corruption, securities fraud and embezzlement in connection with infrastructure projects in Africa;
  • one of the world’s largest banks in parallel investigations by the DOJ, UK FCA and various European regulators into alleged manipulation and collusion in the setting of prices for gold and other precious metals;
  • Marriott on its multijurisdictional response to the Starwood data incident;
  • a Fortune 500 manufacturing company in an inquiry conducted by the DOJ into alleged corrupt payments in the Middle East;
  • a major US private equity firm in a $900m transaction in which a sanctioned Iranian entity had a significant interest; 
  • winning the acquittal in a federal jury trial of Raoul Weil, former CEO of UBS Private Banking, the most senior banker charged in the DOJ’s long-running crackdown on Swiss banks, for allegedly conspiring to assist US taxpayers evade billions of US taxes on assets secretly held in Switzerland; and
  • financial institutions, corporates and private equity clients on a range of economic sanctions compliance issues, including before the US Department of State and Office of Foreign Assets Control. 

“She is a dynamo. She's one of the smartest lawyers I have ever met and has gained the trust of regulators ... She's absolutely superb.”
— Chambers USA - Litigation: White-Collar Crime & Government Investigations - New York
Kimberly Zelnick
Global Head of Financial Institutions Disputes Group
kimberly.zelnick@freshfields.com
T +1 212 277 4010
new york Office

3 World Trade Center

175 Greenwich Street, 51st Floor

10007 new york
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