Cari N. Stinebower

Practice Areas

Cari N. Stinebower is a member of Winston & Strawn’s White Collar & Government Investigations Practice in the firm's Washington, D.C. office and the Chair of the firm's International Trade Practice. Cari practices in the area of economic sanctions, export controls, and anti-money laundering (AML). With more than twenty-five years of government and private sector experience, she counsels clients on how to navigate the complex—and sometimes conflicting—web of government regulations. Cari provides practical guidance designed to allow clients to respond in a complex and changing political and business environment. Together with Winston’s other practices, she provides comprehensive and practical solutions for a wide range of clients.

Cari counsels clients on compliance with U.S. economic sanctions, Bank Secrecy Act and AML laws and regulations, export controls, and anti-corruption/anti-bribery laws and regulations. She works with financial institutions and multinational corporations to develop compliance programs, conduct AML and Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) risk assessments, conduct internal investigations, respond to government investigations, and address potential conflicts of law arising from non-U.S. data privacy and “blocking” laws and regulations. In the last five years, she also has worked closely with all aspects of the maritime sector to address compliance with U.S. sanctions targeting Iran and, more recently, to address compliance with the Russian Price Cap Coalition.

Cari served as counsel for the U.S. Department of the Treasury’s OFAC and as a Programs Officer for OFAC, where she advised on sanctions and anti-terrorism legislation and drafted United Nations Security Council Resolutions and related executive orders. Cari acted as agency counsel in Treasury’s defense of a number of challenges to OFAC’s authority, whether in litigation related to enforcement actions or in response to congressional investigations. As a result of her work at Treasury, Cari received the Secretary of the Treasury’s Certificate for her role in providing guidance in the war against terrorism, establishing a program targeting the Taliban, working with the interagency group to unwind the first sanctions targeting the government of Libya, and drafting the Foreign Narcotics Kingpin Designation Act.

Cari is a frequent writer and speaker on sanctions, AML and anti-corruption/anti-bribery related issues. She has been quoted in publications such as The Wall Street Journal, The New Yorker, Reuters, Bloomberg and MoneyLaundering.com. Cari also served on Law360’s 2022 International Trade Editorial Advisory Board.

Cari has been a guest lecturer at Yale University, Georgetown Law School, and the University of Zurich.