James Okonkwo

James Okonkwo is a director in the investigations practice in New York. He leads reviews for financial institutions and multinational companies facing sanctions, export control and anti-corruption enquiries from United States authorities. He has worked on more than forty such matters, including voluntary disclosures, look-back reviews of transaction data and support to independent monitors.

His work covers banking, commodities trading, shipping and industrial manufacturing. He is known for mapping complex networks of distributors, agents and intermediaries, and for tracing payment flows through correspondent accounts and front companies. Counsel rely on his work to establish the scope of any conduct early, before reporting obligations or remediation plans are settled.

Before joining Pemberton & Co. he spent seven years as an investigator at a federal financial regulator, focusing on sanctions and anti-money laundering enforcement, and later led a compliance review team at an international bank. He holds a law degree from Georgetown University Law Center and a degree in economics from the University of Pennsylvania.

He is a Certified Anti-Money Laundering Specialist and a Certified Fraud Examiner. He speaks at compliance and white-collar conferences on sanctions screening, beneficial ownership and the evidence regulators expect in voluntary disclosures, and contributes to a professional association’s guidance on risk assessments for third-party intermediaries.