Les Carnegie

Practice Areas

Les Carnegie advises companies, financial institutions, and private equity funds, both in the US and globally, on their outbound and inbound business transactions. He helps clients navigate US export controls, sanctions, and foreign investment reviews by CFIUS. He co-leads Latham’s Economic Sanctions & Export Controls Practice, and the CFIUS & US National Security Practice.

Mr. Carnegie advises clients on legal, policy, and enforcement issues arising under:

• US trade and economic sanctions

• US export controls

• National security reviews of foreign investments in the US conducted by the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States (CFIUS)

Mr. Carnegie draws on strong working relationships with regulators and two decades of legal experience to help clients understand legal restrictions and requirements, secure licensing, make voluntary disclosures and respond to enforcement actions, as well as maintain compliance with various US legal regimes, including:

• National security reviews before CFIUS

• US Treasury Department’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC)

• US Department of State’s International Traffic in Arms Regulations (ITAR)

• US Department of Commerce’s Export Administration Regulations (EAR), the Foreign Trade Regulations (FTR), and antiboycott regulations

He has developed particular insight on key strategic industries, including:

• Banking and financial services

• Energy

• Life Sciences/Biotechnology

• Aerospace/Defense

• Consumer/Retail goods

• Hospitality/Entertainment

• Not-for-profit NGOs/Tax-exempt organizations

Mr. Carnegie frequently writes and speaks on sanctions and CFIUS topics. He is regularly recognized by Chambers USA and The Legal 500 US, and was named a Top Advisor by Foreign Investment Watch in 2020, and a Compliance MVP by Law360 in 2021. Clients describe him as “our first choice when tackling complex economic sanctions or export control compliance matters,” and “a tireless, engaging advocate and forward thinker,” whose “knowledge of US sanctions is excellent, as are his relationships with OFAC personnel.”

Mr. Carnegie organized and edited the first Foreign Direct Investment Regimes app, covering investment from several global jurisdictions.

He clerked for Judge Gerald B. Tjoflat of the US Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit.