Sir William (Bill) Browder KCMG was once the largest foreign portfolio investor in Russia until being declared “a threat to national security” in 2005 for exposing corruption in Russian state-owned companies. In 2008, Bill’s lawyer, Sergei Magnitsky, uncovered a massive fraud committed by Russian government officials stealing US $230 million of state taxes and was subsequently arrested, imprisoned without trial and systematically tortured. Sergei Magnitsky died in prison on November 16, 2009. Ever since, Sir William has led the Global Magnitsky Campaign for governments around the world to impose targeted visa bans and asset freezes on human rights abusers and highly corrupt officials, introducing the passage of the Sergei Magnitsky Accountability Act in 2012, & the Global Magnitsky Human Rights Accountability Act 2016. Which has since been adopted by 11 countries, including USA, UK, Canada and New Zealand. For his exceptional service to the UK abroad and internationally, in recognition of his significant and sustained contribution to human rights and anti-corruption, he was appointed by King Charles in the 2024 Birthday Honours List a Knight Commander of the Order of St Michael and St George (KCMG).

From the age of 16, when she became the first female student body president of her high school, until 30 years later as Canada’s 19th and first female prime minister, Kim Campbell has spent much of her life breaking barriers for women. She served at all three levels of Canadian government, was its first female justice minister as well as it’s first female defense minister. In fact, she was the first female minister of defense of a NATO country. Ms. Campbell served as the Canadian Consul General in Los Angeles until 2000 and then spent much of the last two decades working with several high-level international organizations that focus on global issues such as democratization, climate change, non-proliferation, and the advancement of women. In 2016, Prime Minister Trudeau appointed her Chairperson of the Independent Advisory Board for Supreme Court of Canada Judicial Appointments, a role to which she was re-appointed in 2017, 2019 and 2021. In addition to politics, Ms. Campbell has also dedicated much of her time to educating current and future leaders. She has taught at UBC as well as Harvard’s Kennedy School of Government, and drawing on her extraordinary experience as a leader and academic, she designed and launched the Peter Lougheed Leadership College at the University of Alberta, serving as its Founding Principal from 2014 through June 2018.

As Canada’s Fentanyl Czar, Mr. Brosseau is focused on working closely with U.S. counterparts and law enforcement agencies to drive Canada’s ongoing work to detect, disrupt, and dismantle the fentanyl trade. Mr. Brosseau brings extensive law enforcement experience to this role, having served in the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) for over 20 years, including as Deputy Commissioner and top cop in Manitoba. Recently, as Deputy National Security and Intelligence Advisor to the Prime Minister, Mr. Brosseau navigated Canada’s most sensitive security challenges. He has demonstrated expertise tackling drug trafficking, organized crime networks, and other national security threats working with domestic and international partners. A Harvard Law graduate, Mr. Brosseau also practiced law in both Canada and the United States. He is originally from Bonnyville, Alberta.

Professor Barry Rider has taught law and related areas in the University of Cambridge and other universities since 1976. He was Director of the Institute of Advanced Legal Studies for almost a decade and holds various visiting and honorary appointments at a number of overseas universities. He has also been an international civil servant and diplomat and headed an international unit concerned with the disruption of economic and organized crime. He has advised and assisted governments in numerous countries and inter-governmental organizations, in regard to economic crime issues and founded and runs the annual Cambridge International Symposium on Economic Crime which is in its 42nd year. He has published widely across a broad spectrum of legal issues including financial regulation, corporate law and financial crime. He has also worked in private practice and is a Master of the Bench of the Inner Temple. He was awarded an OBE in 2014 by HM Queen Elizabeth II for his work in fighting economic crime.

Evelyn B. Sheehan is an accomplished litigator who focuses her practice on complex, cross-border investigations and government enforcement actions. She advises fiduciaries, corporations and high-net-worth individuals facing allegations of fraud, money laundering, sanctions violations and other forms of alleged misconduct. Ms. Sheehan formulates offensive and defensive global litigation strategies, including in relation to civil and criminal asset forfeiture, trust disputes and insolvency litigation, particularly in high-stakes matters with tension between parallel forfeiture and insolvency proceedings. She routinely draws upon her experience as the former Deputy Chief of the Asset Forfeiture Division at the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of Florida to plan and pursue global asset recovery campaigns. These bespoke strategies often include coordinating efforts across multiple international jurisdictions and leveraging her experience tracing assets to arrive at public and private remedies.

Detective Inspector Barry Butler joined An Garda Siochana (Ireland’s Police Force) in 1993 having completed a degree in Economics and Politics at University College Dublin. He has spent the vast majority of his thirty year career working as a Detective in various roles within the Dublin Metropolitan Region tasked with the investigation of homicide, organised crime, economic crime and corporate enforcement. In 2018 he was appointed as a Detective Inspector to Ireland’s Criminal Assets Bureau where he has responsibility for tracing and targeting criminal assets through the application of Ireland’s model of civil forfeiture.

As a prosecutor in the U.S. Department of Justice, Stefan D. Cassella was one of the federal government’s leading experts on asset forfeiture and money laundering law for over thirty years. He now serves as an expert witness and consultant to law enforcement agencies and the private sector as the CEO of Asset Forfeiture Law, LLC. Mr. Cassella litigated some of the Government’s most significant forfeiture and money laundering cases and drafted many of the federal forfeiture and money laundering statutes.He is also the author of two treatises — Federal Money Laundering: Crimes and Forfeiture and Asset Forfeiture Law in the United States – and of more than 50 published articles on money laundering and forfeiture issues, and has lectured on these topics throughout the United States and in numerous foreign countries. Mr. Cassella is also the author of the Money Laundering and Forfeiture Digest, a monthly compendium of cases decided by the federal courts that is circulated to hundreds of state, federal and foreign prosecutors, law enforcement agents, and private lawyers in the U.S. and abroad.

Andrew Dornbierer is an admitted lawyer from Western Australia and the Head of Policy and Research at the Basel Institute's International Centre for Asset Recovery (ICAR). Since joining the Basel Institute in 2012, Andrew has provided advice to law enforcement agencies regarding live corruption and money laundering investigations and to governments on how to improve their anti-corruption and asset recovery-related legislation. During his time at ICAR, Andrew has established himself as a recognised expert in the field of unexplained wealth laws. He spent over three years embedded as an investigations advisor at the Prevention and Combating of Corruption Bureau in Tanzania where he worked alongside officers investigating cases of unexplained wealth and other corruption offences. He is also the author of the 2021 book Illicit Enrichment: A Guide to Laws Targeting Unexplained Wealth, that examines the drafting and application of these types of laws in over 100 jurisdictions.

Peter German KC, PhD, is President of the International Centre for Criminal Law Reform. A lawyer and member of the Ontario and British Columbia bars, he was previously a member of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police, serving as its Director General of Financial Crime and as Deputy Commissioner for Western and Northern Canada. He was also Regional Deputy Commissioner Pacific for Correctional Service Canada and served as the initial team commander in the 2008 search for kidnapped Canadian diplomats in West Africa. He holds various degrees including a Doctorate in Law from the University of London, focused on asset recovery. He is the author of ‘Proceeds of Crime and Money Laundering’, published by Thomson Reuters in 1998 and currently updated bi-monthly. He is also the author of ‘Dirty Money’ and ‘Dirty Money Part 2’, reports commissioned by the Attorney General of B.C., relating to allegations of money laundering in the casino, real estate, luxury vehicle & horse racing sectors. His awards include King’s Counsel and Officer of the Order of Merit of the Police Forces.

Superintendent Adam MacIntosh has served with distinction in the Royal Canadian Mounted Police for over 24 years, amassing extensive experience across a broad spectrum of high-impact policing roles. Throughout his career, he has operated at the forefront of frontline policing, major crimes, homicide investigations, and national security, including counterterrorism and organized crime, both domestically and internationally. His leadership and expertise have been instrumental in driving effective policing strategies in these complex areas. An Accredited Team Commander and Critical Incident Commander, Superintendent MacIntosh currently leads as the Director for the Cyber and Financial Investigation Teams (CFIT) in the Pacific Region, overseeing key units responsible for combating cybercrime, cryptocurrency-related investigations, anti-corruption efforts, money laundering, and financial crimes linked to capital markets.

Jas Mann, CPA, CGA is the Assistant Director of the Criminal Investigations Division – BC in the Western Region. The Criminal Investigations Division consists of two distinct programs – Criminal Investigations Program (CIP) and the Illicit Audit Income Program (IIAP). Both programs paly a crucial role in protecting Canada’s tax base. Since joining the CRA in 2001, she has worked in a number of diverse CRA program areas in the compliance programs branch.

Brock Martland, KC is a senior criminal lawyer handling trials and appeals, mainly for the defence but also, in the barrister tradition, for the Crown. A graduate of Queen’s University and the University of Victoria, he clerked for the Honourable Mr. Justice John Major at the Supreme Court of Canada, then completed articles with the Vancouver Crown Counsel office, before joining the firm of Smart & Williams in 2001. The present firm of Martland & Saulnier is the successor to that firm.

Brock has acted as defence counsel in high-profile cases such as the Jake Virtanen sexual assault trial, the Surrey Six murder trial (and appeals), the Yaletown bike-store shooting, and the Air India terrorist bombing. He occasionally conducts trials and appeals for the Crown. Brock was senior commission counsel for the Cullen Commission of Inquiry into Money Laundering in British Columbia. He also served as associate commission counsel for two public inquiries: the Frank Paul Inquiry, and the Cohen Commission of Inquiry into the Decline of Sockeye Salmon in the Fraser River. He has extensive experience with extradition and youth justice cases. He has been involved in numerous Police Act disciplinary matters.

Ms. Meneguzzi, B.Sc., LL.B., LL.M., Senior Crown Counsel, Prosecution Service of Canada, has spent the past twenty five years as a Federal Crown Prosecutor specializing in financial crime and advising law enforcement. She was Special Advisor to the Financial Crime Coordination Centre of Public Safety Canada from 2022 to 2024 and contributed to legislative proposals, and policy papers on a range of issues including asset recovery. She has also served as embedded counsel with the Canada Revenue Agency, Criminal Investigation Division for the Pacific and Prairie Regions. Her dedication to advancing more effective enforcement led to the publication of the report “Money Laundering, Proceeds of Crime and AML Compliance Report (2020)” to assist private and public investigations. In addition to prosecution files, she continues to support efforts to strengthen intergovernmental and inter-agency collaboration to provide training, discuss legislative and policy initiatives and knowledge sharing within the Canadian financial crimes regime partners.

Melinda Murray is the Executive Director of the Criminal Property Forfeiture Branch within the Public Safety Division of Manitoba Justice which conducts civil forfeiture proceedings for the province of Manitoba. Prior to that she was a Senior Crown Attorney with the Manitoba Prosecution Service for 24 years. She has led amendments to the Criminal Property Forfeiture Act in both 2021 and again in 2023 to include Unexplained Wealth Orders. She has testified at the Cullen Commission of Inquiry into Money Laundering in British Columbia and has had the privilege of presenting at the Cambridge International Symposium on Economic Crime for the last two years. She has expanded the Branch to include Money Laundering Investigators and a Financial Analyst to conduct in depth and stand-alone investigations into money laundering activities within the province. She was the previous Co-Chair and Chair of the National Civil Forfeiture Committee and has assisted Nunavut and Nova Scotia with implementing their civil forfeiture programs.

John R. Neal was called to the Bar of B.C. in 2000. He joined the Public Prosecution Service of Canada in 2001, where he prosecuted drug cases and proceeds of crime and forfeiture-related matters, including 3 years at the Integrated Proceeds of Crime Unit. He joined the BC Prosecution Service in its Commercial Crime, Proceeds & Securities section in 2009 where he was Administrative Crown Counsel from 2017 to 2024. He is a Resource Counsel in the BCPS for proceeds of crime and seized asset management and forfeiture matters. He was one of two BCPS representatives who spoke to the expert panel chaired by Professor Maureen Maloney (Combatting Money Laundering in BC Real Estate), to Dr. Peter German (Dirty Money Report), and to counsel for the Cullen Commission (Commission of Inquiry into Money Laundering in British Columbia).

Sarah Nelligan is a Barrister & Solicitor with the Ministry of Attorney General in Vancouver. She graduated from the University of Calgary and the University of New Brunswick Law School. She was an Associate at Lawson Lundell LLP, and a partner at both Miller Thomson LLP and Dentons.

Jeffrey Simser was Canada’s first director of civil forfeiture and served with the Ministry of the Attorney General in Toronto, Canada for over thirty years. He is one of Canada’s leading experts on money laundering and asset forfeiture law. He holds law degrees from Queens University at Kingston and Osgoode Hall Law School. He currently has a law practice in Toronto. Mr. Simser is the author of two published books, Canadian Anti-Money laundering Law: The Gaming Sector and Civil Asset Forfeiture in Canada (loose-leaf). He has published dozens of peer-reviewed articles, including a chapter in the recently published Dirty Money: Financial Crime in Canada (2023). Mr. Simser was twice qualified as an expert witness at the Commission of Inquiry into Money Laundering in British Columbia (the Cullen Commission). Mr. Simser provides advice, training, and support to law enforcement in jurisdictions across Canada and around the world.

Daniel J. Song, K.C. is a criminal defence lawyer practicing in British Columbia and Alberta. He was counsel against the Director of Civil Forfeiture in the longest running forfeiture action in B.C., and he was counsel in one of B.C.’s largest money laundering investigations, which became a catalyst for the Cullen Commission. He has extensive experience as criminal appellate counsel and has acted for litigants at the Supreme Court of Canada more than twenty times. Daniel is an adjunct professor at UBC’s Peter A. Allard School of Law, and he is a fellow of the American College of Trial Lawyers.

Phil Tawtel has been the Executive Director of the BC Civil Forfeiture Office (CFO) since 2012 and he currently represents Canada on civil forfeiture matters through the CARIN network which is comprised of anti-money laundering experts and practitioners from around the world. He began his career serving with the RCMP for 25 years primarily with the proceeds of crime and commercial crime units. After retiring from the RCMP he was the Director of Compliance for the North American operations of Custom House, an international foreign exchange firm which provided sophisticated corporate hedging and payment solutions. He is a Fellow Chartered Professional Accountant (FCPA).

Rita Trichur is an award-winning journalist. She is a senior business writer and columnist with The Globe and Mail. She previously served as the newspaper’s Financial Services Editor. Rita returned to The Globe in July 2016 after spending about 2 ½ years as a reporter for The Wall Street Journal. She primarily covered Canadian banks and insurance companies from Toronto but also wrote a variety of other stories for the U.S. newspaper. Prior to The Wall Street Journal, Rita spent more than three years at The Globe in the Report on Business and covered the telecom beat. Rita, who also speaks French, has also written about financial services and economics for the Toronto Star, and has held various roles at the Canadian Press and the Ottawa Sun. She got her first byline at age 6 when the Toronto Star published her short story about a fish-stealing cat and paid her $10. She has a Bachelor of Journalism and Political Science and a M.A. in Canadian Studies – both from Carleton University in Ottawa.

Steve is a partner at Dentons, dividing his time between the Newport Beach and Los Angeles offices as a member of the Commercial Litigation and White Collar and Government Investigation groups. He has a nationwide litigation practice representing white collar defendants charged with financial crimes and an international practice representing entities and individuals involved in civil or criminal forfeiture proceedings, either as criminal defendants, civil or administrative claimants or petitioners, or victims seeking compensation for losses. Before joining Dentons, Steve was an Assistant U.S. Attorney in the Central District of California (Los Angeles), where he served for more than 20 years as the Chief of the Asset Forfeiture Section and prosecuted or oversaw a wide range of high profile civil and criminal forfeiture matters, including the 1MDB civil forfeiture litigation in which the government recovered more than $1.4 billion looted from the Malaysian sovereign wealth fund.

Alexandra Wrage is president and founder of TRACE, a globally recognized business association dedicated to anti-bribery, compliance and good governance which operates in all non-sanctioned countries. She is also president of the TRACE Foundation, a grant-making body established to support and fund research and investigative journalism that encourages greater commercial transparency. Ms. Wrage is the author of Corrosive: Corruption and its Consequences as well as Bribery and Extortion: Undermining Business, Governments and Security, co-editor of How to Pay a Bribe: Thinking Like a Criminal to Thwart Bribery Schemes and What You Should Know about Anti-Bribery Compliance and the host of the video Toxic Transactions: Bribery, Extortion and the High Price of Bad Business, produced by NBC. She has provided anti-bribery consulting or training in over 140 countries. Ms. Wrage was named one of the “Canadians Changing the World” by The Globe & Mail and was awarded the Women in Compliance “Lifetime Achievement Award for Service to the Compliance Industry.” She studied law at King’s College, Cambridge University.