The WorldECR Export Controls and Sanctions Forum

PARADIGM SHIFTS IN TRADE CONTROLS

This November, join fellow sanctions and trade compliance professionals as we address critical and current issues in this ever-changing field. On the agenda will be the use of AI in compliance, China and the United States trade relations today and tomorrow, IEEPA, chips and tariffs, Russia and Ukraine, and much more.

With speakers from industry and their advisors — including KPMG, Rolls-Royce, IBM, Mayer Brown, the Stimson Center and more —the 2025 Forum is a must-attend event on the DC trade compliance agenda.

Sponsors:

Sessions to include:

Keynote: Setting the scene in 2025

Dr Iain Stewart, Executive Director, James Martin Center for Nonproliferation Studies

We are delighted that Dr Iain Stewart will be delivering a scene-setting keynote speech, contextualizing the key issues impacting on trade compliance, including the changing role of the multilateral export control regimes, continuing and new proliferation risks and concerns, and the evolving relationship between emerging technology and regulation.

Mutual dependency or decoupling? China and the United States’ relations through the prism of trade controls

Panel led by Ajay Kuntamukkala, Partner, Hogan Lovells LLP

Amidst the Trump Administration’s tariffs on China, Chinese retaliation with counter tariffs and blocking of exports of critical minerals, and ongoing negotiations over trade issues, the economic relationship between the United States and China is fraught with tension and complexity. Alongside these economic challenges lies fundamental disagreement on issues including human rights in Xinjiang and Hong Kong and the future of Taiwan.

This session updates our understanding of the Sino-U.S. relationship for the Trump era through the prism of export controls, sanctions, tariffs, and countermeasures, asking key questions such as: Where does trade controls policy fit in the Trump Administration’s approach to China? Will U.S. and Chinese trade controls continue to become more and more restrictive or will there be a detente? What are the trade-offs between export controls and dealmaking between the two sides?

Chipping away? AI export controls after DeepSeek

Thea Kendler, Partner, Mayer Brown, and former Assistant Secretary for Export Administration, BIS, and Emily Benson, Minerva Technology, formerly of U.S. Department of Commerce and CSIS

Impetus to up the export control ante was increased at the beginning of the year after China’s DeepSeek revealed unexpectedly strong AI capabilities rivalling established U.S. players. President Trump has set out his approach to the control of exports of advanced chips used for generative AI in his AI Action Plan, while BIS regulations have departed from the norms established by the Biden Administration. The resulting, evolving legislative landscape has consequences for exporters — and users — of technology both in the United States and beyond. More changes — both to technology and legislation — are undoubtedly on the cards.

The future of defense is dual-use!

Tracy Gronewold, Director of Global Trade Compliance, Hillspire, and Jeff Merrell, VP Strategic Trade Controls, Rolls-Royce North America

Traditional export control regimes distinguish between controls on military USML goods subject in the U.S. to ITAR, and dual-use CCL goods subject to the EAR. But recent conflicts have revealed critical flaws in many traditional defense platforms. They are too big, too slow, and too expensive. Methods of waging conflict are changing, and new, differently controlled technologies are emerging: Artificial Intelligence (running on advanced semiconductors); tiny, attritable drones; and commercial software. Indeed — is the future of defence dual-use? It’s a provocative question — here unpacked!

Holding it together: Brussels, sanctions and the “bloc”

Dr. Gerd Schwendinger, Partner, GvW Graf von Westphalen, Hamburg, Germany

Russia’s invasion of Ukraine has been Brussels’ prime consideration since 2022, and in response the European Union has imposed unprecedented sanctions (18 packages as at writing time) on Moscow. In doing so, it has sought to centralize sanctions policy and practice across the bloc, imposing new thresholds and expectations for enforcement and penalties, and extending its authority to third-country subsidiaries of EU companies — with long-term repercussions for sanctions compliance.  In this session, Dr. Gerd Schwendinger reviews the sanctions progress to date and looks to the horizon for the EU’s possible next steps.

Maximizing data riches: Finding, extracting, and putting trade data to use

Pete Heine, Senior Adviser, Pacific Northwest National Laboratory

In July, the European Union published a Strategic Trade Atlas to promote understanding of global trade flows of strategic goods, i.e., goods of militarily strategic value, including dual-use goods. This isn’t the only source of comparably rich data, but collectively, they’re largely untapped by regulators and industry alike.

This session locates the data and sets out use-cases, arguing that intelligent application can enhance both the effectiveness, and the efficiency, of strategic export control efforts.

U.S. enforcement 2025: Unravelling the lessons from the agencies

Elizabeth Shingler, Senior Manager, KPMG LLP

Each enforcement action tells a story — and is a goldmine of compliance learning for businesses. This session takes stock of the big-ticket enforcement actions in 2025 (such as the OFAC settlements with GVA Capital, Unicat, and Interactive Brokers, and BIS’ agreement with Cadence), peeling away the layers to reveal key takeaways, and how they can be applied to daily compliance best-practice.

Acts of emergency? Potential new frontiers in national security legislation

Barbara Linney, Partner, Baker Hostetler

By using the International Economic Emergency Powers Act as a justification for the imposition of tariffs, Donald Trump radically redefined perceptions of IEEPA, its scope and its application.

Likewise, recent comments by U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent suggest that the administration might be considering tariff payments in lieu of export control authorizations in some cases. These are not uncontroversial developments — IEEPA’s new application is still being challenged in the courts. What comes next? (is the question, amongst others, posed in this presentation.)

Kicking the tIres: AI/human red teaming and scenario testing

Dr David Bray, Chair of the Accelerator at the Loomis Council, and Distinguished Fellow, Stimson Center, and Kevin Cuddy, Government & Regulatory Affairs Executive in the Export Regulation Office at IBM

The practice of ‘red teaming’ — deliberately challenging assumptions and testing systems by adopting an adversarial mindset — has long been employed in military and cybersecurity contexts and has a natural fit in scenario-testing both for governments and the private sector. AI can play a role in this — but the human factor remains critical, as it does in broader trade compliance contexts — as this session will set out.

AUKUS update

Panel lead by Ajay Kuntamukkala, Partner, Hogan Lovells LLP

AUKUS — the three-way security pact between Australia, the UK and the U.S. — has considerable implications for export controls. Understanding the underpinnings of AUKUS — and associated licensing regimes — creates opportunities for industry in each of those countries, as this panel discussion, lead by Ajay Kuntamukkala, will set out.

Sanctions Horizon Scan 2026

Panel discussion

With Putin’s visit to Alaska inconclusive, the E3 triggering the JCPOA’s ‘snapback’ mechanism, and China, Russia and North Korea forming a new ‘troika’ in response to Western pressures (and add to the mix the situation in Gaza), the trajectory of further sanctions policies from the UN, EU/UK and US looks uncertain.

This discussion sees panellists consider possible sanctions ‘next-steps’ and appropriate corporate preparedness.

• Registration includes light breakfast (both days), lunch day 1 and networking drinks reception following sessions on day 1.
• An optional dinner (costs $140) at a local restaurant will follow the networking drinks reception.

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Terms and conditions

Please note, by registering for this event you accept the terms and conditions below.

Registration Fee
Your fee includes the attendance at both days of the conference; programme materials; and stated refreshments and access to networking receptions.

Registration policy
Delegates may not ‘share’ a registration without the organiser’s authorisation.

Payment policy
Payment must be received in full by the conference date. ‘Additional delegate’ prices are only available to delegates from the same organisation as the original full-fee delegate.

Cancellations and Refunds
You must notify the conference organiser 48 hours before the conference if you wish to change the delegate.

If you wish to cancel your registration, you can do so incurring the following charges:
Cancellation more than 28 days before the event – full refund less 33% admin fee.
Cancellation between 27 and 6 days before the event – full refund less 50% admin fee.
Cancellation between 5 days before and the day of the event – no refund.

Change of venue
The organisers reserve the right to change the venue should attendance numbers so demand.

Change of speaker and presentation
The organisers reserve the right to change speakers and/or presentations.

Coming soon