Ivo Ivanov is a senior attorney in the firm’s litigation and enforcement practice group. Ivo focuses his practice on white-collar criminal defense, government enforcement, compliance risk mitigation, and internal and government investigations on a broad range of issues, including foreign bribery, money laundering, fraud, and sanctions and export controls violations. Ivo also regularly advises clients on the development and implementation of their corporate compliance programs and on improvements to their compliance policies and procedures.
Ivo has extensive experience advising multinational clients in the context of highly complex cross-border internal and government investigations and international regulatory compliance matters, focusing on the U.S. Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (“FCPA”), compliance due diligence, compliance audits, M&A transactions, and anti-money laundering in various countries and industries, including and with a particular focus recently on telecommunications, health care, medical devices, and biopharmaceuticals.
Ivo has also gained significant in-house counsel experience and a deep understanding of clients’ businesses and industries, as well as the cultural environments in which they operate, from secondments at clients under monitorship. During those engagements, Ivo advised clients on compliance matters, allegation management, internal investigations, and third-party risk management and assisted in their compliance program build-out and development. Ivo’s experience also includes assisting with matters requiring appearances in front of U.S. enforcement agencies, as well as handling government inquiries, follow-up actions, and global compliance reviews and assessments in the context of FCPA monitorships and clients’ Deferred Prosecution Agreement obligations.
Ivo maintains an active pro bono practice representing individuals in asylum proceedings and other immigration-related matters before the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. Ivo’s commitment to pro bono service and dedication to making equal access to justice a reality in the District of Columbia were recognized by his inclusion on the D.C. Bar Capital Pro Bono Honor Roll for six consecutive years (2016-2021).
Prior to joining Ropes & Gray in 2024, Ivo practiced law in the international department of a Washington, D.C.-based boutique law firm and as a regulatory attorney in the Washington, D.C. office of a financial services and criminal and civil enforcement defense law firm. He has been a regular contributor on anti-corruption and FCPA-related topics.
Experience
Some of Ivo’s representative engagements have included:
- Representing a medical device company in connection with international corruption issues relating to third-party distributors.
- Representing international pharmaceutical and medical device manufacturers in FCPA investigations before the DOJ and SEC related to conduct in Asia, Europe, the Middle East, and Latin America.
- Advising a publicly traded beverage company in connection with third-party risk management and compliance program improvement.
- Served multiple secondments at clients subject to FCPA monitorship, advising on DPA reporting obligations, allegations management, internal investigations, third-party risk management, and implementation of compliance program enhancements.*
- Participated in extensive due diligence reviews, including advising on the highest risk third party engagements, in high-risk jurisdictions in the context of M&A for clients subject to FCPA monitorships.*
- Represented a company in the oil industry in connection with a DOJ investigation into international corruption issues.*
- Conducted multiple internal investigations of alleged violations of the FCPA, risk assessments, and third-party due diligence reviews in the context of M&A transactions.*
- Represented a global manufacturer for the paper industry in an FCPA-related internal and government investigation, resulting in DOJ’s decision not to prosecute.*
- Conducted an internal investigation into alleged violations of the FCPA for a UK-founded biopharmaceutical company.*
- Advised a global foreign trade financing specialist in Middle East sales markets for trade in food and pharmaceutical and healthcare products in connection with allegations of sanctions violations.*
- Representing a stateless individual before the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services on an ongoing basis in connection with application and renewal of employment authorization.*
- Successfully represented an individual before the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services in a petition for asylum.*
- Advised an international non-governmental organization under monitorship in connection with improvement of its investigations process and internal policies and procedures, including intake, assessment, and investigation of allegations.*
*Experience prior to joining Ropes & Gray