Brian Burke is a partner in the Litigation practice. He has conducted dozens of investigations throughout Asia Pacific, including in Greater China (Mainland China, Hong Kong, Taiwan), Japan, South Korea, India, Singapore, Indonesia, Thailand, Malaysia, Vietnam, Australia and New Zealand. As a fluent Mandarin speaker, Mr. Burke has a particular focus on advising multinationals with operations in China in the areas of FCPA/anti-corruption, economic sanctions, antitrust, shareholder litigation, anti-money laundering and other compliance and investigative matters. A client describes him as “simply outstanding,” further commenting that he is “one of the best outside counsels I have ever worked with.” Clients also describe Mr. Burke as a “very, very skillful communicator, including at board level” and note that his “language and passion for Chinese culture are unique.”

Mr. Burke acted as lead advisor to GlaxoSmithKline on the landmark bribery case against GSK in China, the first such case against a foreign company in China. Subsequently, Crown Resorts retained Mr. Burke to help resolve the widely-publicized criminal charges against Crown employees for gambling-related crimes in China. Mr. Burke has also represented Chinese, Japanese, European and North American clients on investigations and compliance matters throughout Asia, including McDonald’s, Olympus, LVMH, Medtronic, Roche, PetroChina, Sinopec, Volvo, Sephora, Valeo and others.

Mr. Burke has appeared before the U.S. Department of Justice, U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, UK Serious Fraud Office, Hong Kong Securities and Futures Commission, Hong Kong Independent Commission Against Corruption, and other international regulators on cross-border investigations and compliance matters.

• Represented GSK on criminal bribery case in China and related investigations by DOJ, SEC and SFO.
• Advised Crown Resorts on criminal charges against Australian employees in China.
• Representing Olympus Corporation on compliance and investigations matters in Asia.
• Representing RELX Group on compliance and investigations matters in Asia.
• Advised McDonald’s on compliance matters in relation to its sale of over 2,000 restaurants in China.
• Represented a U.S. hedge fund employee in insider trading investigations by the SEC and SFC.
• Represented multiple China-based companies and individuals in U.S. securities class actions, shareholder derivative litigation and SEC investigations
• Represented Europe’s largest all-cargo airline in multi-jurisdictional antitrust investigations and related civil class actions
• Won dismissal of shareholder lawsuit challenging Kraft’s hostile takeover of Cadbury
• Won dismissal of shareholder litigation challenging take-private transaction by majority shareholder of Fairfax Financial Holdings
• Defeated preliminary injunction motion in Delaware Chancery Court brought by shareholders of NBC Universal in connection with recapitalization transaction
• Won dismissal of multiple antitrust cases against European manufacturer on personal jurisdiction and subject matter jurisdiction grounds

Professional Affiliations

• American Bar Association (member of Antitrust, Litigation and International Law sections)
• Asia Society (Hong Kong)
• China Business Lawyers Association
• China Institute in America
• Shanghai Bar Association

Publications

• “1MDB: A Defining Moment for South East Asia?,” Thomson Reuters, February 2021
• “IMF COVID-19 Crisis Funding: An Opportunity to Fight Corruption,” International Bar Association, May 2020
• “The ‘WeChat Effect’: Understanding the Compliance Risks of Mobile Messaging Apps,” Financier Worldwide, February 2019
• “Dispute Resolution in China,” Corporate Counsel’s Guide to Doing Business in China, West Publications (2012-2013 Edition)
• “The Impact of the Financial Crisis on the Regulatory Landscape and the Resulting Implications for Securities Class Action Litigation,” PLI Securities Handbook, April 2012
• “Neate and Godfrey: Bank Confidentiality” (Fifth Edition) (United States Chapter)
• “Distrust Needs to be Harmonized,” International Financial Law Review, September 2010
• “Non-U.S. Banks are Target of Recent Economic Actions by U.S. Government,” Banking Law Journal, May 2008
• “New Enforcement Guidelines for Economic Sanctions Violations,” Banking and Financial Services Policy Report, September 2008
• “Discovery From Foreign Defendants in U.S. Civil Antitrust Proceedings,” American Bar Association, International Cartel Workshop 2008

Speaking Engagements

• “Crisis-Proofing Your Compliance Program: Lessons Learned from the COVID-19 Pandemic,” The Society of Corporate Compliance and Ethics webinar (February 15, 2022)
• “Investigations in Asia – Japan & South Korea,” Shearman & Sterling LLP (December 17, 2020)
• “U.S. Securities Enforcement Trends Under President Biden – Should U.S.-Listed Chinese Companies Get Ready Now?,” Shearman & Sterling LLP and KPMG (December 10, 2020)
• “Investigations in Asia – South East Asia,” Shearman & Sterling LLP (December 3, 2020)
• “Investigations in Asia – China,” Shearman & Sterling LLP (November 16, 2020)
• “Code of Conduct,” guest trainer (in Mandarin Chinese) of 150 employees of a US-listed technology company (October 21, 2020)
• “Recognition and Enforcement of Foreign Judgments between China and the U.S.,” Fordham China Law Society’s First Annual Symposium (June 18, 2020)
• “Hold the Phone! How Instant Messaging Apps Are Changing Internal Compliance Investigations,” Consilio (December 12, 2019)
• “Asia-Pacific & Latin America Regulatory and Enforcement Update Seminar,” America Conference Institute in Washington D.C. (December 6, 2019)
• “Caught in the Crossfire: Navigating Regulatory, Transactional and Litigation Risks in Light of Current US-China Relations,” Annual APAC Conference in New York, NY (April 29, 2019)
• “Eye of the Storm: Crisis Prevention and Management Roundtable,” Shearman & Sterling LLP in Shanghai, China (March 21, 2019) 
• “Curing Corruption in China’s Healthcare Industry – Risks and Opportunities,” The British Chamber of Commerce In Hong Kong, China (March 20, 2019)
• “Five Employee Corruption Schemes You Should Be Aware Of,” Pharmaceutical Compliance Congress in Shanghai, China (March 13, 2019)
• “Eye of the Storm: Crisis Prevention and Management Roundtable,” Shearman & Sterling LLP in Hong Kong, China (November 15, 2018)
• “Year in Review,” Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development in Paris, France (September 27, 2018)
• “FCPA Compliance Report ” (July 18, 2018)
• “Global Compliance ― Emerging Markets and Third-Party Due Diligence,” Pharmaceutical Compliance Congress in Washington D.C. (April 24, 2018)
• “How to Effectively Respond to Negative Allegations,” Shearman & Sterling LLP in Shenzhen, China (April 19, 2018)
• “The WeChat Effect — Understanding the Compliance Risks of Instant Messaging and Social Media Apps,” Shearman & Sterling LLP in Shanghai and Hong Kong, China (April 17 – 20, 2018)
• “Compliance Issues in China’s Healthcare Industry,” Shearman & Sterling LLP in Shanghai, China (March 13, 2018)
• “The WeChat Effect — Understanding the Compliance Risks of Instant Messaging and Social Media Apps,” Pharmaceutical Compliance Congress in Shanghai, China (March 12, 2018)
• “Self-Reporting and Cooperating With Regulators in China and Beyond,” Advanced China Summit on Anti-Corruption in Shanghai, China (October 25, 2017)
• “Negative Allegations Seminar,” Shearman & Sterling LLP in Hong Kong, China (September 7, 2017)
• “Financial and Accounting Fraud Seminar,” Shearman & Sterling LLP in Shanghai, China (September 5, 2017)
• “How to Eliminate Anti-Corruption Risks for Tier 2 and Tier 3 and Mobile Offices,” Advanced China Summit on Anti-Corruption in Shanghai, China (June 13 – 14, 2017)
• “The Belt and Road: Rules of the Road,” Shearman & Sterling LLP in Shanghai, China (June 12, 2017)
• “Regulatory Risks of Doing Business in China,” Shearman & Sterling LLP in Shanghai and Beijing, China (April 6, 2017 and May 16, 2017)
• “Internal Investigations Think Tank: Senior In-House Counsel Discuss How to Effectively Structure the Investigation,” Advanced China Summit on Anti-Corruption in Shanghai, China (June 15 – 16, 2016)