Mariana Pendás Fernández

• Provides day-to-day sanctions compliance counseling to maritime industry participants, including port agencies and maritime logistics providers, vessel operators, charterers, shipping and logistics companies, and insurers. Advises on real-time compliance decision-making in response to rapidly evolving US and EU sanctions regimes.
• Advises participants across the energy, commodities, financial services, insurance, manufacturing, logistics, and transportation sectors on designing, implementing, and enhancing sanctions, export controls, anti-money laundering (AML), and anti-bribery and anti-corruption compliance programs. Focuses on agile frameworks responsive to fast-changing multilateral sanctions and US unilateral sanctions.
• Represents US and non-US financial institutions in complex, multiagency investigations involving alleged sanctions, AML, and related regulatory violations, including matters involving voluntary self-disclosures to US authorities.
• Leads Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA) and anticorruption investigations across Mexico and Latin America, representing multinational companies in the manufacturing, energy, infrastructure, transportation, consumer goods, and financial services sectors. Conducts cross-border internal and government investigations, including data and document reviews and witness interviews in Spanish and English.
• Advises companies on allegations involving improper payments and benefits, including matters involving third-party agents and intermediaries, customs brokers, distributors, charitable contributions, gifts, and hospitality, particularly in Mexico and other Latin American jurisdictions.
• Advises boards of directors, audit committees, and senior management on governance, oversight, disclosure, and remediation obligations arising from FCPA and anticorruption investigations.
• Represents clients in voluntary self-disclosures to US authorities, including the Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC), the Department of Justice, and other regulators. Negotiates favorable outcomes, including declinations, no-action letters, and reduced- or no-penalty resolutions.
• Represents non-US financial institutions, insurers, and multinational companies in responding to requests for information, subpoenas, and informal regulatory inquiries. Focuses on mitigating enforcement risk, preventing escalation to formal actions, and reducing collateral consequences, including private litigation exposure and correspondent banking impacts.
• Advises multinational manufacturers and exporters on maintaining risk-based sanctions and export controls compliance programs, including navigating conflicts of law arising from blocking statutes and other extraterritorial measures in the EU, Switzerland, and other jurisdictions.
• Advises US and multinational industrial and heavy equipment manufacturers on emerging and escalating sanctions and corruption risks, including compliant market reentry as sanctions regimes are lifted, eased, or modified.
• Represents clients before OFAC and the US Department of State in delisting and licensing matters, including securing the delisting of designated vessels and individuals.
• Advises non-US companies on managing primary and secondary sanctions exposure in cross-border transactions, financings, and strategic acquisitions, including matters involving investments in Venezuela and continued or wind-down operations in Russia.
• Advises clients on sanctions, trade controls, and anticorruption considerations in connection with mergers, acquisitions, financings, and restructurings, including due diligence, remediation, and post-closing compliance integration.

• "Trump 2.0: What a New Trump Administration Means to White Collar and Corporate Criminal Enforcement," Hispanic National Bar Association 2025 Corporate Counsel Conference, Co‑Panelist, Mar. 20, 2025
• "Value and Challenges of Sanctions and the Risks of Doing Business in the Region," FIBA AML Conference 2024, Co‑Panelist, Mar. 18, 2024
• "Newly Emerging High‑Risk Jurisdictions: Best Practices to Identify & Mitigate Risk in China, Latin America, UAE, Oman, Turkey, and the Former Soviet Union," ACI Women in Sanctions Network Webinar, Co‑Presenter, Oct. 25, 2023
• "Cuba 2023 – Navigating Opportunities in the Current Business and Regulatory Environment," Fireside Chat with the US Department of State, Moderator, May 5, 2023
• "Complying with OFAC Sanctions," FIBA LATAM FINCRIME Conference, Co‑Panelist, Dec. 6, 2022

• Legal 500 US, Leading Associate – International Litigation (2023–2025)
• Lawdragon, 500 Leading Global Litigators for International Arbitration and International Litigation, including Global Trade matters (2024–2025)
• Lawdragon, 100 Lawyers You Need to Know in South America for International Trade, Investigations, Regulation, and International Arbitration (2025, 2026)
• Latinvex, Top 100 Female Lawyers – International Trade (2019–2025)
• Latinvex, Rising Legal Star – International Trade (2018)

News & Publications

• "US Treasury Seeks Public Comment on the Implementation of the GENIUS Act," Financial Innovation & Regulation, Co‑Author, Nov. 10, 2025
• "Guide to Monitorships: Succeeding Across a Monitor’s Audiences," Global Investigations Review, Co‑Author, April 2022
• "Russia Sanctions and Considerations in Building a Sanctions Compliance Programme," Journal of Financial Compliance, Summer 2021
• "Trump Administration Follows Through on Plans to Tighten Cuban Sanctions," LexBlog, Author, June 6, 2019
• "White House Hints It May Allow Lawsuits Over Cuban‑Confiscated Properties," LexBlog, Author, Jan. 24, 2019
• "TPP and Investor‑State Dispute Settlement: An Intertwined Spectrum of Options for Investors?," Global Trade and Customs Journal, Co‑Author, 2016