Audrey Harris, the former chief compliance officer for the Australian mining giant BHP, has rejoined Mayer Brown in Washington, D.C.

Harris will rejoin Mayer Brown as co-leader of its global Anti-Corruption & FCPA practice.

“Audrey’s sophisticated understanding of corporate compliance and global regulatory enforcement issues, which she has developed through her senior in-house role at a major multinational and extensive private practice experience, will be invaluable to clients,” said Larry Urgenson, a co-leader of the firm’s global Anti-Corruption & FCPA practice. “In this increasingly aggressive enforcement environment, the need for companies to operate globally in proactively assessing corruption risks has never been greater. Audrey augments our risk mitigation capabilities and continues the expansion of our global anti-corruption capabilities across the US, UK, Brazil, France and China.”

A veteran Foreign Corruption Practices Act (FCPA) and white collar practitioner, Harris has over a decade of experience handling multi-year, multinational investigations, with a comprehensive investigations, counseling and defense capability.

In 2015, Ms. Harris joined BHP to serve as the company’s first chief compliance officer. Her team was accountable for safeguarding integrity by preventing, mitigating, and investigating compliance risks and setting ethical standards.

Her role also involved work with NGOs, international governing bodies and enforcement agencies as part of the promotion of global anti-corruption, transparency and integrity.

Previously, Ms. Harris was a partner at Mayer Brown, where she conducted investigations, counseled corporations and individuals in a variety of enforcement matters, and regularly appeared before enforcement authorities. Her areas of experience include US Securities and Exchange Commission enforcement actions, false claim/statements, FCPA and other fraud investigations, as well as anti-terrorism and money laundering defense.

“Mayer Brown’s global platform and ability to provide clients practical approaches and holistic advice, drove my decision to rejoin the firm.” Harris said. “Countries across the globe are enhancing legislative regimes and building enforcement capabilities. Increasingly, successful defense depends on effective compliance programs, credible internal investigations and coordination across jurisdictions. Leveraging a company’s existing systems and experience to target the next emerging risk can be a market differentiator. Mayer Brown is uniquely positioned to partner with clients in this space — providing risk-based approaches tailored to clients’ business models, along with global investigations and enforcement experience.”