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FINSA
(Foreign Investment and National Security Act of 2007)
Mr. Christopher P. Simkins
Of Counsel
Covington & Burling LLP
Chris Simkins’ practice focuses on national and homeland security matters, particularly in the context of foreign investment in the United States, international trade, government contracting, and industry support for the US intelligence, law enforcement, and military communities. Mr. Simkins recently joined the firm after serving for three years in the U.S. Department of Justice, first as a trial attorney in the Counterespionage Section and then as Senior Counsel to the Assistant Attorney General for the Criminal Division.
Mr. Simkins managed DOJ’s involvement in the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States (CFIUS). In that role, he conducted well over 200 national security reviews of foreign investments in the United States and was the lead or co-lead negotiator for every significant mitigation agreement entered into by CFIUS for a two-year period.
While at DOJ, Mr. Simkins handled a wide variety of criminal and counterintelligence-related matters, including:
» working closely with the FBI and the US intelligence community on sensitive national security-related investigations;
» participating in a number of high-profile prosecutions and criminal investigations relating to violations of the espionage statutes, export controls, sanctions/embargoes, and foreign registration laws;
» serving as the liaison to the intelligence community for criminal matters, including leaks of classified information to the media; and
» providing legal support for a variety of intelligence community operations and participating in several intelligence-related interagency working groups.
Mr. Simkins has worked closely with the Administration and the Congress on a variety of national security-related legislative issues, including proposed CFIUS reform legislation and “media leak” legislation.
Previous Experience
» Senior Counsel to the Assistant Attorney General, Criminal Division, Department of Justice (2006-2007)
» Counterespionage Section, Department of Justice (2004-2006)
Honors and Rankings
» Assistant Attorney General’s Award for Advancing National Security (2005)
» Official commendation from the Department of Homeland Security’s General Counsel for protecting national security (first ever such commendation to a person outside of DHS) (2007)
Publications and Speeches
» Frequent lecturer to intelligence community, law enforcement and industry groups on topics such as counterintelligence/counterespionage enforcement, export control criminal enforcement, CFIUS/Exon-Florio, and the use of polygraphs in internal government investigations.
» "Senate Passage of CFIUS Reform Bill (S. 1610)," Covington E-Alert (6/29/2007)
Note: He's formerly or recently connected with Covington & Burling LLP
Stephen W. Preston
Co-Chair, Defense and National Security Practice Group
WilmerHale
Stephen W. Preston is a Partner in the law firm of Wilmer Cutler Pickering Hale and Dorr LLP in Washington, DC. He is Co-Chair of the Defense and National Security Practice Group, and a member of the firm’s Regulatory and Litigation Departments. Mr. Preston joined WilmerHale in 1986 and returned to the firm in 2001 after more than four years at the Pentagon and three years with the Justice Department. From 1993 to 1995, he was the Principal Deputy General Counsel of the Department of Defense, serving an extended period as Acting General Counsel. Mr. Preston served as Deputy Assistant Attorney General with the U.S. Department of Justice from 1995 to 1998. From 1998 to 2000, he served as the General Counsel of the Department of the Navy. Mr. Preston’s practice is focused on controversy work for clients in the defense, aerospace and related industries, as well as other matters involving national security. A substantial part of his practice is devoted to advice concerning U.S. foreign ownership restrictions and representation before the inter-agency Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States (CFIUS).
Jeanne Archibald
Director of International Trade Group
Hogan & Hartson
Jeanne Archibald is the Director of Hogan & Hartson's International Trade Practice Group. Prior to joining Hogan in 1993, she served as the General Counsel of the US Treasury Department. While serving at Treasury, Ms. Archibald was deeply involved in the development of the Exon-Florio Amendment to the Defense Production Act of 1950 and oversaw the drafting of the regulations implementing the Amendment. She provided legal advice to senior Treasury officials with respect to the operation of CFIUS reviews. She has continued her work on national security reviews of foreign direct investment in private practice and has represented both sellers and buyers, including sovereign wealth funds, in a wide variety of industries, including telecommunications, defense contractors, energy, security and financial services.
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