Perry Bechky

Export Controls and Sanctions, International Litigation and Arbitration

Partner

With 30 years of experience spanning 60+ countries across six continents, Perry stands at the forefront of international law. His distinguished career encompasses high-stakes representation before federal courts, regulatory bodies, and international tribunals. Areas of Expertise Perry excels in managing complex cross-border matters, including:

• Economic sanctions
• International dispute resolution
• Corporate internal investigations
• High-level negotiations
• Legal and political risk management
• National security reviews of corporate transactions
• Expropriation claims under political-risk insurance
• Treaty-based dispute settlement

With 30 years of experience spanning 60+ countries across six continents, Perry stands at the forefront of international law. His distinguished career encompasses high-stakes representation before federal courts, regulatory bodies, and international tribunals. Client Portfolio Perry has served a diverse clientele:

• National governments and international organizations
• Family businesses, entrepreneurs, and tech start-ups
• Industry leaders in agriculture, banking, energy, manufacturing, real estate, technology, and more

Sanctions Specialist With hundreds of sanctions-related projects to his credit, Perry offers unparalleled expertise in:

• Civil penalty proceedings
• Compliance
• Delisting procedures
• Internal investigations
• Licensing and interpretative rulings

His sanctions experience extends beyond OFAC regulations to encompass CAATSA, the Helms-Burton Act, the Iran Sanctions Act, SADA, UN Security Council resolutions, and foreign "blocking statutes." CFIUS & Foreign Investment Expert Perry provides comprehensive guidance on national security reviews of cross-border investments under FIRRMA and its predecessors. Working collaboratively with corporate counsel, and backed by BCR’s deep expertise in export controls regulations, he represents both foreign investors and US target companies in determining CFIUS filing requirements and navigating the review process. Areas of Interest:

• OFAC and Economic Sanctions
• CFIUS Investment National Security Reviews
• International Dispute Resolution
• Investment Treaty Arbitration
• International Litigation and Arbitration
• International law
• International Trade Law
• National Security Law

Representative Matters include:

• Sanctions: Provided expert testimony on U.S. sanctions law in international arbitration and U.S. courts. Successfully petitioned for “delisting” Solway’s Guatemalan subsidiaries from the SDN List. Successfully resolved various OFAC investigations. Obtained numerous OFAC licenses for unblocking blocked assets, divesting Russian investments, maintaining and transferring blocked properties, and more.
• CFIUS: Obtained CFIUS approval for many cross-border investments, regularly advising a VC firm and U.S. start-ups with sophisticated technology.
• Investment Treaty Arbitration: Represented clients in investor-state disputes; sitting as an arbitrator in a PCA case.
• International Arbitration & Litigation: Secured dismissal of a class action against OPEC. Secured a stay of litigation under the FAA, leading to a favourable settlement.
• Political-Risk Insurance & Expropriation: Won claims for investments in Argentina and India, including major OPIC payouts.
• Trade Disputes & WTO Cases: Successfully challenged Indonesian trade restrictions and U.S. antidumping duties.
• Wrote amicus briefs for the Mexican government on NAFTA-related constitutional and implementation
• Pro Bono Work: Assisted in prosecuting Rwandan genocide architects at the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda.

  Client Testimonials:  Perry continually exhibits his depth of knowledge via the matters he handles for us. He is clearly adept at navigating the nascent and unprecedented complexities of the sanctions at issue while remaining cognizant of our business and operations. Perry's advice illustrates that he realizes our necessity to understand and comply with applicable restrictions. Perry is easily reached and consistently provides responses and deliverables on a timely, and often urgent, basis. Perry's knowledge and experience in the sanctions arena is exceptional. He is very pleasant to deal with and is responsive, which as a quality is invaluable when operating in a fast-moving environment. Perry is always very responsive and regularly made himself available at short notice. Perry Bechky is wonderful. He has great knowledge. I love working with Perry. He's very involved in the area. He can give quick, wonderful, precise advice. He's very responsive and very practical in terms of his advice. He is an incredible professional with an encyclopedic knowledge and understanding of cross-border commercial issues, especially as they relate to general US sanctions issues and OFAC. With Perry Bechky you are in great hands. He delivers on what he promises. Perry is very diligent and detail-oriented, but he doesn't lose sight of the big picture. Also, he knows which aspects can be better covered by other members of the team.  Perry Bechky is a standout. 

• Columbia Law School, JD 1993, Harlan Fiske Stone Scholar • Certificate in International Law, 1993, Columbia University Parker School
• Stanford University, AB 1990, with Honors