Wesley Lainé

Wesley Lainé advises corporations on a wide range of U.S., French and EU regulatory matters, as well as investors on French foreign investment control in the context of M&A transactions.

Mr. Lainé regularly counsels clients on U.S. anti-money laundering and economic sanctions law and EU sanctions and export control laws and regulations in connection with investigations and compliance matters. These representations frequently involve investigations brought by the U.S. Department of the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control, the U.S. Department of Justice, the New York Department of Financial Services, the Federal Reserve and the New York County District Attorney’s Office, as well as those involving the French Treasury.

He also advises clients on the French foreign investment control regime, and has obtained foreign investment clearance before the French Ministry for the Economy on behalf of numerous clients.

Mr. Lainé’s experience in regulatory matters includes representing:

• a global financial institution in connection with the resolution of long-standing investigations by various U.S. authorities into its historical compliance with U.S. economic sanctions and anti-money laundering laws
• a major French financial services company and its parent company in connection with the resolution of a seven-year investigation by various U.S. authorities into its historical compliance with U.S. economic sanctions laws
• Renault Group on the regulatory aspects of the disposal of its subsidiary Renault Russia and interest in AVTOVAZ

Mr. Lainé’s experience in French foreign investment matters includes advising:

• Veoneer, Inc., an automotive safety technology company listed on the New York Stock Exchange and Nasdaq Stockholm, on its $4.5 billion acquisition by SSW Partners and Qualcomm Incorporated following the termination of Veoneer’s previously announced $3.8 billion acquisition by Magna International Inc.
• BuzzFeed, Inc. on its acquisition of HuffPost from Verizon Media
• Zayo Group Holdings, Inc. on its $14.3 billion acquisition by affiliates of Digital Colony Partners and the EQT Infrastructure IV fund
• HP, Inc. on its $3.3 billion acquisition of Poly

Mr. Lainé has an active pro bono practice, which includes representing clients seeking asylum and clients facing other immigration issues in the United States. He also serves as a member of the Steering Committee of Skadden’s Immigration Impact Project and has served on the Diversity Committee in the firm’s Paris office.