Hughes Hubbard Announces New Deputy Co-Chair; Strengthens Global Investigations, Enforcement and Compliance Practice with New Leadership

New York, Washington, D.C., and Paris, June 24, 2024 – International law firm Hughes Hubbard & Reed LLP announced today it has named Steve Chung as Deputy Co-Chair of the firm and expanded its Global Investigations, Enforcement and Compliance practice, naming Laura Perkins and Mike DeBernardis as Co-Chairs of the firm’s group based in the United States and Anne Hukkelaas Gaustad and Marie-Agnès Nicolas as Co-Chairs in Europe.

“Steve is a respected leader, and we welcome his contributions in his expanded role as Deputy Chair. We also welcome our new leaders in our Global Investigations, Enforcement and Compliance practice. This is a highly regarded and growing core practice for the firm, and we look forward to its continued success,” said Neil Oxford, Chair.

Steve Chung joined in 2010 and is a partner in the Corporate and Finance Group of Hughes Hubbard & Reed and is chair of its Aviation Finance Group, the head of the firm’s Corporate and Finance Group in Washington, D.C., and is a member of the firm’s Executive Committee, now serving as Deputy Co-Chair with Ken Lefkowitz.

He represents sponsors, lenders, export credit agencies and commercial banks in connection with a broad spectrum of international financial and corporate transactions, including acquisitions, joint ventures, domestic and cross-border secured and unsecured financings, leveraged leasing, structured financings, restructurings and credit enhancements in the U.S., Caribbean, South America, Asia and Europe. He has extensive experience in a wide variety of aircraft and other structured equipment financings, including representing clients in aircraft acquisitions and dispositions; domestic and cross-border leveraged lease transactions; aircraft portfolio securitizations (ABS); the issuance of enhanced equipment trust certificates (EETCs); syndicated credit facilities; pre-delivery payment and warehouse facilities; and joint venture transactions. He has worked on many of the most important financings involving aircraft, including the first 144A/Reg. S offering of ABS notes after the 2008 financial crisis and the first non-U.S. airline EETC involving Cape Town Alternative A. Many of his deals have won "Deal of the Year" awards from leading industry publications.

Steve also represents sponsors, lenders, export credit agencies, commercial banks and equipment suppliers in connection with complex domestic and international financing arrangements, joint ventures, equity investments and restructurings, including securitizations, secured and unsecured lending, cross-border financings, structured financings, bankruptcies and workouts for capital intensive infrastructure, energy, telecoms, satellite and transportation projects, including fixed-line and wireless telecom installations, container terminal facilities and power facilities in the U.S., Caribbean, South America, Asia and Europe.

Laura Perkins joined in 2017 from the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ), where she was previously an Assistant Chief for Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA) Enforcement in the Fraud Section of the Department of Justice’s Criminal Division and Senior Counsel to the Assistant Attorney General. In her career at DOJ, she led or supervised hundreds of FCPA investigations and tried nearly two dozen cases involving a variety of frauds and other federal crimes.

Laura is a deeply experienced trial lawyer and investigator who brings extensive insider knowledge of how DOJ investigates and prosecutes criminal cases and what DOJ expects from internal investigations, cooperating companies, and corporate compliance programs.

Mike DeBernardis joined Hughes Hubbard in 2008 and assists clients with investigations and enforcement actions relating to the FCPA, securities violations, procurement fraud, financial and accounting fraud, money laundering, and other ethics issues and violations of company policy. He also leads the firm’s Multilateral Development Bank Investigations and Sanctions practice.

Mike has represented clients in connection with inquiries by DOJ, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) and the U.S. Senate Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations, among others. He also works extensively with clients to prevent issues before they arise, assisting American, European, and Asian clients in designing, evaluating, administering, and maintaining anti-corruption, integrity compliance, and corporate governance programs.

Anne Hukkelaas Gaustad joined the firm in 2013. A member of the firm’s Executive Committee, Anne’s practice focuses on anti-corruption, economic sanctions and export controls, business and human rights, and complex multijurisdictional internal and regulatory investigations.

Anne has extensive experience assisting clients in conducting complex internal and regulatory investigations, global compliance reviews, compliance risk assessments, third-party due diligence, designing and implementing risk-based corporate compliance programs, and assessing risks under international and national anti-corruption frameworks, including in connection with inquiries by the U.S. DOJ and SEC, Norway’s Økokrim, France’s Agence française anti-corruption (AFA), French prosecution services, and the World Bank. She has conducted investigations and compliance-related work in more than 40 countries, with particular experience representing industrial companies, including in the infrastructure, oil & gas and renewable energies, telecommunications, automotive, transportation and cosmetics sectors. Anne is a member of the Paris, Norway, New York and District of Columbia bars.

Marie-Agnès Nicolas joined Hughes Hubbard in 2010. Her practice covers both programmatic and enforcement related representations covering anti-corruption compliance, business and human rights, ethics and corporate governance issues before national and international regulators. In this context, she assists clients in conducting internal investigations, performing due diligence on third parties, as well as designing and evaluating compliance program effectiveness (including in the context of M&A activities). She has extensive experience representing companies in the context of compliance programs controls by regulators (in particular by France’s AFA) and/or independent compliance monitors.

She is the author of the seminal publication on the French duty of care (JurisClasseur) and works with the French National Bar Council’s Working Group on internal investigations.

About Hughes Hubbard’s Global Investigations, Enforcement and Compliance Practice Group

Our Global Investigations, Enforcement and Compliance practice group is one of the premier corporate investigations practices in the world, representing many of the largest companies and their executives and directors in high-stakes investigations, enforcement and compliance matters, including:

• Responding to government investigations and enforcement actions
• Conducting internal investigations
• Serving as independent compliance monitors
• Counselling companies subject to post-resolution obligations
• Designing and implementing compliance programs

The team has conducted investigations in more than 90 countries, resolved investigations and won landmark decisions for clients before U.S. and international authorities, and has served as compliance monitors approved by the DOJ, SEC, U.K. Serious Fraud Office, U.S. Department of the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control and the United Nations.

About Hughes Hubbard

Hughes Hubbard & Reed LLP is a New York City-based international law firm with a relentless focus on providing quality service to our clients and delivering successful results in the most complex matters. With a powerful combination of scale and agility, we offer clients innovative and effective solutions, while remaining flexible to adapt to their needs and market developments. Known for a collaborative culture, as well as our diversity and pro bono achievements, Hughes Hubbard has a distinguished history dating back more than a century. For more information, visit hugheshubbard.com.