Dr. Richard Roeder is a partner in Willkie’s German practice. He is a member of the firm’s Litigation Department and Willkie’s Global Trade & Investment, Compliance, Investigations & Enforcement and Environmental, Social & Governance practice groups.
Richard focuses on international trade, compliance and white collar investigations, as well as transactional regulatory risk assessments. He advises clients from various industries in the areas of sanctions, export control, supply chain, anti-money-laundering and anti-corruption compliance. His clients include in particular financial services and insurance companies as well as companies from the automotive, mining, oil and gas, healthcare and information technology sectors.
The Legal 500 Germany 2022 / The Legal 500 EMEA 2022 recommend Richard in the category Foreign Trade Law and highlight that he “(…) is a key contact for economic and financial sanctions as well as export control issues.” One market participant say he is “(…) very responsive. Thinks ahead and provides business-related information on innovations. Makes binding, practical statements.”
He has published extensively and regularly is called to speak on global trade and compliance related topics, including recently on the regulatory developments in China and those resulting from the Ukraine Crisis. He is the co-author of “U.S., EU, and UN Sanctions: Navigating the Divide for International Business” (2019) as well as co-author of International Comparative Legal Guide to Sanctions (2022). He is also the author of “Foreign Mining Investment Law” (2016), that includes CSR considerations that now are also often referred to as ESG-related.
Prior to joining Willkie, Richard was a fellow of what today is called the Mercator Fellowship on International Affairs, working for the German Ministry of Economics in Berlin, the German Foreign Service in Caracas, Venezuela, the European Union in Damascus, Syria and the United Nations Development Program in Geneva, Switzerland.
In 2018, Richard was based in Washington, D.C. where he assisted clients in managing the challenges posed by the divergence between U.S. and EU economic and financial sanctions (e.g. regarding the EU Blocking Statute). Including most recently, he was of counsel in the International Trade, White Collar Defense & Investigation as well as ESG practice groups at a renowned U.S. law firm.
Richard speaks German, English, French, and Spanish.Experience
Richard has advised on the following selected significant matters:*
- Providing sanctions, export control, anti-corruption and AML compliance advice to major financial institutions, DAX®and Fortune 500 companies, and insurers.
- Providing advice in the context of international and national transactions of strategic investors and private equity funds with a focus on regulatory compliance, including Atlas Copco in connection with the €1.1 billion tender offer for ISRA VISION AG and Triton on its acquisition of Lamina Technologies SA.
- Developing and implementing global compliance management systems inter alia at a major international company in the packaging industry.
- Conducting international white collar investigations, specifically in matters related to sanctions and export controls, FCPA, AML, tax and technical compliance.
Credentials
Education
University of Cologne, Dr. jur., 2015 University of Queensland, Master, 2013 University of California, Berkeley, LLM, 2011 Bucerius Law School, Law Degree, 2007