Erik Woodhouse, a former senior sanctions official with the State Department, has returned to Crowell & Moring, the firm announced this week. Woodhouse left the State Department in July after serving as deputy assistant secretary for counter threat finance and sanctions and leading the agency's Office of Sanctions Coordination (see 2407310003). His practice will focus on sanctions compliance and issues related to the Bank Secrecy Act and anti-money laundering rules and regulations.

Trade law firm Cassidy Levy opened a new office in Brussels, expanding into Europe and adding more than a dozen international trade and customs attorneys, the firm announced Nov. 4. The team will be led by partners Marie-Sophie Dibling, Yves Melin and Joost Pauwelyn. Dibling will head the trade remedies practice, Pauwelyn will lead on international trade agreements and disputes, and Melin will head efforts on customs enforcement.

Christopher Skinner, former partner at Williams Mullen, has joined ArentFox as a partner in its international trade and investment practice, the firm announced. Skinner's practice will cover export controls and sanctions compliance as well as customs and import regulations.

International trade attorney Robert Seely is retiring after nearly 23 years at Grunfeld Desiderio as of counsel, the firm confirmed in an email. Seely joined the firm in its New York office in 2002, working on securing duty refunds and customs classification matters.

Sally Laing, former chief international trade counsel for Sen. Ron Wyden, D-Ore., and the Senate Finance Committee, returned to Akin, the firm announced. Laing rejoined the firm as an international trade partner after working in the Senate and also as assistant general counsel in the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative. She started her career as a summer associate, international trade associate and counsel at Akin.

Trade compliance firm Besso hired Michiel Kalverkamp, Amazon's former head of global trade services for Europe, the Middle East and Africa, as its chief customer officer, the company announced in an email. Switzerland-based Besso uses AI to address global trade compliance issues.

Matt Cronin, former chief investigative counsel for the House Select Committee on China, has joined venture capital firm Andreessen Horowitz as a senior national security adviser, he announced on LinkedIn. He left his job on Capitol Hill earlier this month (2410160022).

U.S. aerospace firm RTX tapped senior counsel Lara Covington to head the company’s compliance with the deferred prosecution agreements announced last week with DOJ and the SEC, Covington announced on LinkedIn. Covington’s official title will be the executive director of the RTX DPA Compliance Program Office, where she will help “ensure the company successfully meets its obligations” to both agencies, she wrote in her bio. RTX will pay close to $1 billion and agreed to a range of compliance commitments to resolve allegations that it committed violations of defense export control regulations, the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act and more (see 2410160058).

Diego Ortega, former sanctions regulations adviser at the Office of Foreign Assets Control, has joined Faegre Drinker as a government and regulatory counsel, the firm announced. Ortega worked for over three years at OFAC, where he drafted and published regulations implementing U.S. sanctions authorities and general licenses.

Matt Cronin, chief investigative counsel for the House Select Committee on China, is leaving Congress for a job in the private sector, he announced on LinkedIn this week. Cronin began working for the committee in July 2023.