Margaret M. Ayres

Counsel

margaret.ayres@davispolk.com

Ms. Ayres is counsel in Davis Polk’s Washington DC office. She concentrates in U.S. trade and investment laws applicable to cross-border transactions, including the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (“FCPA”), U.S. economic sanctions, the U.S. anti-boycott laws and laws restricting foreign investment in the U.S. communications, shipping, aviation, nuclear and defense industries. She has advised many companies around the world, including software, pharmaceutical, travel industry, banking and investment banking clients, on the FCPA and related statutes, as well as the other laws just noted.

Her anti-bribery advice has focused on worldwide transnational anti-corruption measures and conventions as well as FCPA enforcement actions and developments. Ms. Ayres has drafted numerous agent agreements, guidelines and compliance codes, tailored to take account of differences in corporate operations, structures and cultures. She has also conducted intensive training programs for U.S. companies and their overseas subsidiaries in many parts of the world, as well as for foreign issuers of U.S. securities.

Contact

Washington DC
901 15th Street, N.W.
Washington, DC 20005
P: 202-962-7142
F: 202-962-7078

Related Practices

Bar Admissions

District of Columbia
U.S. District Court, District of Columbia

Education

B.A., Smith College, 1965
- cum laude
J.D., Yale Law School, 1972

Of Note

Has published a number of articles on the FCPA
Has been a faculty member for many FCPA seminars in the past eight years, including ABA, ACI, PLI and New York City Bar seminars. Topics have included Developments in the U.S. and International Efforts to Prevent Corruption; Conducting an Effective FCPA (Anti-Corruption) Compliance Assessment; Managing Risk in Third-Party Relationships and Acquisitions; The FCPA Demystified; Managing and Mitigating Risks in Mergers and Acquisitions, Joint Ventures, and Other Third-Party Relationships; International Mergers & Acquisitions: The Need For Enhanced Due Diligence With Respect to Regulatory Compliance; Dealing with Corruption Issues in Commercial Transactions; and Meeting the Challenge of Compliance.

Current Memberships

Member of the Board, Washington International Trade Foundation

Past Memberships

Vice Chair, Anti-Corruption Initiatives & Compliance Issues Committee, Section of International Law, American Bar Association
Vice Chair, Task Force on Corruption, American Bar Association
Member, Executive Committee, Yale Law School Association, 1995-1997

Professional History

Counsel, 1989-present
Associate, 1982-1989

News

Davis Polk Advises Canon Investment Holdings on Acquisition of Altair Nanotechnologies

Client Publications

Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States Rejects Huawei Deal; Third Recent Chinese Transaction Scuttled by National Security Review
Client Memorandum

CFIUS Guidance Concerning National Security Considerations
Client Memorandum

FINSA Final Regulations Published in Federal Register
Client Newsflash

View More > >

Events

Margaret Ayres to Speak at PLI's “The Foreign Corrupt Practices Act 2010” Seminar

Last Name
Title ALL TITLES Associate Consultant Counsel Counsel - Registered Foreign Lawyer General Counsel Litigation Counsel Partner Registered Foreign Lawyer Senior Counsel Special Counsel for Pro Bono
Offices ALL OFFICES Beijing Hong Kong London Madrid Menlo Park New York Paris São Paulo Tokyo Washington DC
Practices ALL PRACTICES Antitrust and Competition -- Litigation Antitrust and Competition -- Transactional Asia Practice Bankruptcy Litigation Board of Directors Litigation and Strategic Counseling Capital Markets China Practice Commercial Dispute and Contract Compliance and Advisory Compliance and Advisory Consumer Class Action Consumer Products Corporate Corporate Governance Credit Derivatives and Structured Products Energy/Utilities Environmental Europe Practice Executive Compensation and Employee Benefits Financial Crisis and Subprime Lending Financial Institutions Foreign Corrupt Practices Act Health Care Health Care/Life Sciences Hedge Funds India Practice Insolvency and Restructuring Intellectual Property Intellectual Property Litigation Internal Investigations International International and Domestic Arbitration International Litigation and Enforcement Investment Funds Litigation and Investigations Investment Management Japan Practice Leveraged Finance Litigation M&A-Related Litigation Mass Torts and Product Liability Media and Telecom Mergers and Acquisitions Private Equity Professional Liability Project Finance Real Estate Securities Class Actions Securities Enforcement Spain and Latin America Practice Tax Tax Controversy Technology Trading and Markets Trusts and Estates White Collar Criminal Defense
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Rotman School of Management University of Utah S.J. Quinney College of Law University of Virginia University of Virginia School of Law University of Warsaw, Faculty of Law and Administration University of Washington School of Law (Seattle) University of Western Australia University of Western Australia, Faculty of Law University of Western Ontario University of Wisconsin Law School Univerzita Karlova v Praze Vanderbilt University Law School Wake Forest University School of Law Washington & Lee University School of Law Washington University in St. Louis Washington University in St. Louis School of Law Wayne State University Law School Yale Law School Yale University
Clerkship ALL CLERKSHIPS Amon, Carol Bagley Aspen, Marvin E. Bates, John D. Bea, Carlos T. Becker, Edward R. Beezer, Robert Berman, Richard Bernstein, Stuart M. Binnie, Ian Block, Frederic Boggs, Danny J. Bork, Robert H. Boyle, Terrence Breitel, Charles D. Breyer, Stephen G. Brody, Morton A. Brown, Janice Rogers Buchwald, Naomi Reice Byrne, Jr., William Matthew Cabranes, José A. Caffrey, Andrew A. Callinan, Ian Cardamone, Richard J. Casey, Richard Conway Castel, P. Kevin Cedarbaum, Miriam Goldman Chagares, Michael A. Chandler III, William B. Chin, Denny Clark, Thomas A. Clay, Eric L. Coffey, John L. Conboy, Kenneth Conner, William C. Cote, Denise Cummings, Walter J. Cyr, Conrad K. Daniels, George B. Davis, Legrome Drain, Robert D. Duffy, Kevin Thomas Edelstein, David N. Feinberg, Wilfred Fisher, Raymond C. Flannery, Thomas A. Fogel, Jeremy Fuentes, Julio Gagliardi, Lee P Garaufis, Nicholas G. Garibaldi, Marie L. Garth, Leonard I. Ginsburg, Douglas H. Ginsburg, Ruth Bader Glasscock III, Sam Glasser, I. Leo Gleeson, John Goettel, Gerard L. Goodwin, Alfred T. Gorenstein, Gabriel W. Greenberg, Morton I. Gregory, Roger L. Griesa, Thomas P. Grunis, Asher Haight, Jr., Charles S. Hall, John E. Hays, Paul R. Henry, Robert H. Herndon, David R. Hornby, D. Brock Hurley, Denis R. Iacobucci, Frank Imber, Annabelle Clinton Irenas, Joseph E. Irizarry, Dora L. Jacobs, Dennis Jiuyong, Shi Judges' Chambers, Senior Kaplan, Lewis A. Karas, Kenneth M. Katzmann, Robert A. Kaufman, Chief Judge, Irving R. Kearse, Amalya L. Keeley, Irene M. Kelly, Jr., Paul J. Kennedy Jr., Henry H. Kennedy, Anthony M. Kennedy, Cornelia G. King, Carolyn Koeltl, John G. Korman, Edward R. Kravitch, Phyllis A. Laster, Travis Leaphart, W. William Lechner, Jr., Alfred J. Legg, Benson E. Leisure, Peter K. Leon, Richard J. Letts, J. Spencer Leval, Pierre N. Lew, Ronald S.W. Lumbard, J. Edward Luttig, J. Michael Marshall, Thurgood Martin, Jr., John S. Matthes, M.C. Mauskopf, Roslynn R. McLaughlin, Joseph M. McLaughlin, Mary A. McMahon, Colleen Motz, J. Frederick Mukasey, Michael B. Murphy, Diana E. Nelson, David A. Newman, Jon O. Nickerson, Eugene Oakes, James L. O'Scannlian, Diarmuid F. Otis, Louise Owen, Richard Parker, Barrington D. Patterson, Jr., Robert Pauley III, William H. Pitman, Henry B. Platt, Thomas C. Pogue, Donald C. Pollak, Louis H. Pooler, Rosemary S. Pratt, George C. Preska, Loretta A. Raggi, Reena Rehnquist, William H. Robinson, Stephen C. Roth, Jane R. Sand, Leonard B. Saunders, Mary E. Scalia, Antonin Scheindlin, Shira A. Seitz, Collins J. Sifton, Charles P. Silberman, Laurence Silberman, Laurence H. Skotnikov, Leonid Smith, D. Brooks Smith, Jerry E. Snow, G. Murray Sprizzo, John E. Stahl, Norman H. Stotler, Alicemarie H. Straub, Chester J. Sullivan, Richard J. Swain, Laura Taylor Sweet, Robert W. Sykes, Diane Tauro, Joseph L. Thomas, Clarence Thompson, David Tjoflat, Gerald B. Townes, Sandra L. Trager, David G. Van Dusen, Francis L. Wallace, J. Clifford Walls, William H. Webster, William H. Weinfeld, Edward Weinstein, Jack B. Wellford, Harry W. Wesley, Richard C. White, Byron R. Widener, Jr., H.E. Wilbur, Richard C. Williams, Richard L. Williams, Stephen F. Winter, Ralph K. Wisdom, John Minor Wollman, Roger Wright, Caleb M. Young, William G. ALL COURTS British Columbia Court of Appeals Delaware Court of Chancery District of Columbia Court of Appeals High Court of Australia International Court of Justice Montana Supreme Court New Jersey Supreme Court New York Court of Appeals Quebec Court of Appeals Supreme Court of Arkansas Supreme Court of Canada Supreme Court of Israel U.S. Bankruptcy Court, S.D. New York U.S. Court of Appeals, D.C. Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals, Eighth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals, Eleventh Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals, Fifth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals, First Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals, Fourth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals, Ninth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals, Second Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals, Seventh Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals, Sixth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals, Tenth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals, Third Circuit U.S. Court of International Trade U.S. District Court, Arizona U.S. District Court, C.D. California U.S. District Court, Delaware U.S. District Court, District of Columbia U.S. District Court, E.D. New York U.S. District Court, E.D. North Carolina U.S. District Court, E.D. Pennsylvania U.S. District Court, E.D. Virginia U.S. District Court, Maine U.S. District Court, Maryland U.S. District Court, Massachusetts U.S. District Court, N.D. California U.S. District Court, N.D. Illinois U.S. District Court, N.D. West Virginia U.S. District Court, New Jersey U.S. District Court, S.D. Illinois U.S. District Court, S.D. New York U.S. Supreme Court U.S. Tax Court