Zahra Mashhood
Counsel
Areas of Focus
- White Collar Defense & Government Investigations
- Export Controls & Economic Sanctions
- Antibribery/Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA)
- Anti-Money Laundering
- Disputes & Investigations
- International Trade
- Focuses her practice on UK and EU economic sanctions, export controls, anticorruption and anti-money laundering matters.
- Conducts government enforcement and cross-border investigations regarding violations of economic sanctions, export controls, anticorruption and anti-money laundering.
- Advises clients on building effective compliance programmes, due diligence and compliance in the mergers & acquisitions, banking and finance context.
Zahra advises clients on UK and EU economic sanctions, export controls, anticorruption, anti-money laundering, modern slavery and competition matters. She has experience in a range of sectors including construction, metals & mining, telecommunications, automotive, oil & gas, food & packaging and financial institutions & private equity.
She has advised clients with respect to cross-border internal and regulatory investigations, voluntary self-disclosures and licensing applications, dealing with agencies including: the Office of Financial Sanctions Implementation (OFSI), Export Control Joint Unit (ECJU), European Commission (EC) (and several member state authorities), Serious Fraud Office (SFO), Financial Conduct Authority (FCA), Competition and Markets Authority (CMA), the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ), the New York Department of Financial Services (DFS) and the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).
Prior to joining Akin, Zahra trained and qualified at another major U.S. law firm in their government enforcement and white-collar crime team in London.
- Advised on a wide variety of economic sanctions and export control matters including ownership and control opinions, licensing applications, voluntary self-disclosures and outreach to regulators.
- Advised several companies on sanctions and export control compliance specifically with respect to divesting from Russia, working closely with regulators to obtain appropriate licences.
- Developed and reviewed internal compliance programmes for several companies, including provision of compliance training.
- Conducted cross-border investigations relating to economic sanctions, export controls, anticorruption, anti-money laundering and competition matters.
List may include matters worked on prior to joining Akin.
LanguagesUrdu
Urdu
EducationL.P.C., BPP University Law School, England, 2015
LL.B. (Hons), University of Cambridge, 2014
L.P.C., BPP University Law School, England, 2015
LL.B. (Hons), University of Cambridge, 2014
Bar AdmissionsSolicitor, England and Wales
Solicitor, England and Wales
- Best Lawyers in the UK, Ones to Watch, Criminal Practice, 2022.
