acss-benelux-chapter - Association of Certified Sanctions Specialists

ACSS Benelux Chapter

About Chapter

The ACSS Benelux Chapter has the goal to assist, educate and provide a network platform for international sanctions and trade compliance specialists based in the Benelux. The ACSS Benelux Chapter strives to be the quality, knowledge and network platform for sanctions and trade compliance professionals in both the private and public sector in the Benelux.

In order to supports its goals, the ACSS Benelux Chapter hosts events, such as webinars and seminars. The Chapter offers its members the opportunity to stay up-to-date with the latest sanctions and trade compliance news, developments and industry trends, but also enabling them to network with peers and external stakeholders.

NOTHING LIKE OUR CHAPTER EXISTS TO PROMOTE SANCTIONS AWARENESS IN BENELUX. COME BE A TRAILBLAZER WITH US!

Board Members

Sebastiaan Bennink

Advocaat (Lawyer) – International Trade Law

BenninkAmar Advocaten
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Sebastiaan has extensive experience in advising and assisting (multinational) companies when do-ing business in sanctioned countries, including Cuba, Iran, Syria and Russia. Sebastiaan also has successfully represented his clients in administrative, criminal and private law matters and related procedures in the area of sanctions and export controls. He also frequently assists his clients with their trade compliance related issues and is very experienced in conducting internal (fraud)investigations, preparing voluntary disclosures and assisting clients in matters initiated by national and international authorities (VS, UK, EU en NL).

Sebastiaan has advised a number of major (including publicly listed) offshore companies and (multi)nationals on EU and US sanctions compliance and assisted them with successfully re-entering the Iranian market. In addition, Sebastiaan has assisted an international operating communication systems company with a voluntary self-disclosure before the national reg-ulatory authorities. Sebastiaan has also advised a major international carrier in a criminal investigation for exports to Saudi Arabia without the required export licenses. His recent work includes advising one of the largest international drone companies in the world on the implementation of a compliance policy and providing transaction advice relating thereto. Sebastiaan has extensive experience in respect of transactions relating to Russia and various African countries.

Sebastiaan is an esteemed speaker at national and international conferences in the field of trade laws. He also frequently lectures, provides (in-house) training and publishes in legal literature, news-papers and magazines. Sebastiaan is regularly quoted in newspapers, and often appears on tv and radio shows.

Before founding BenninkAmar, Sebastiaan was a partner at Wladimiroff, and also at B&A Law, the first Dutch boutique firm specialising in economic sanctions laws and export control legislation. Prior to that, Sebastiaan worked at the Regulatory and Criminal Enforcement department of De Brauw Blackstong Westbroek, the Netherlands’ largest law firm.

Sheila Jassies

General Counsel

COFCO International
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Sheila is Cofco International’s lead counsel for Europe, the Middle-East and Africa since January 2018 and is based in Rotterdam, the Netherlands. Previously, she was the senior corporate counsel at Nidera focusing on trade sanctions compliance and corporate law. She has rich experience in the agricultural commodities trading industry, implementing global sanctions policies and procedures and ensuring trade sanctions compliance. Before joining Cofco International, Sheila worked for Unilever, Coca-Cola and Provimi (Cargill-owned).

Sheila holds a law degree from the Erasmus University, post graduate certifications, and is listed in the 2019 Legal 500 GC Powerlist.

Maarten Rijssenbeek

Partner of the Forensic & Financial Crime team

Deloitte
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Maarten Rijssenbeek is a partner of the Forensic & Financial Crime team of Deloitte in The Netherlands. Before he joined Deloitte, he worked as a public prosecutor and as a deputy advocate general for more than ten years. Maarten started his career as a corporate and criminal defence attorney.

Maarten focuses on assisting clients with financial crime challenges. He participates in and drives the wider debate on bringing the (inter)national financial crime framework to the next maturity level, e.g. facilitating public/private and private/private cooperation.

As a prosecutor, Maarten investigated and prosecuted several high profile fraud, corruption and money laundering cases.

From 2013-2019, Maarten was the national coordinating prosecutor for terrorist financing in the Netherlands. In this role, he cofounded and chaired an interagency partnership and a public-private partnership against terrorism financing within the Dutch Financial Expertise Centre (FEC). He was also closely involved in the creation of a public-private partnership against serious crime and money laundering.

Maarten has been a member of the Dutch FATF delegation and a visiting lecturer on terrorist financing and sanctions at Leiden University.

Ruben VanHove

Group Compliance Advisor

KBC Group
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Ruben acts as group compliance advisor for KBC Group. His practice centers on the monitoring and implementation of sanctions measures for the group and its various subsidiaries and branches.

Starting his career in civil service, he worked on both merger control and investigations into anticompetitive practices at the Belgian Competition Authority. Before joining KBC, he also advised on a wide range of EU regulatory issues at the Belgian National Chamber of Notaries and the Royal Federation of Belgian Notaries.

Charlotte van Haute

Advisor Compliance

KBC Group N.V.

on maternity leave!

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Charlotte acts as group compliance advisor for KBC. Her practice centers on the monitoring and implementation of sanctions measures for the group and the various subsidiaries and branches of KBC.

Previously, she also advised companies and third-country governments on several trade issues, including anti-dumping, anti-subsidy and other trade and customs matters involving the EU institutions. She further provided advice in relation to EU FTAs.

ACSS CHAPTER FAQs

Who can join an ACSS Chapter?

Anyone can join an ACSS Chapter! Our Chapters are a place for our members to form a community on the ground, network, and share knowledge with like-minded sanctions professionals. If you are an ACSS member, click here to sign up today.

Is there a Chapter Membership fee?

If you are an ACSS Member, Chapter Membership is included as one of your many benefits! Just check the Chapter page and sign up to the Chapter in your location.

What if there is no Chapter in my location?

If you don’t currently see a Chapter in your city/state/country, let us know! We are always very interested to hear from you if you and your colleagues believe there may be a need for a Chapter in your location. Just email: helpdesk@sanctionsassociation.org.

I'm not sure if I want to become an ACSS Member, what are the benefits?

Chapter Membership is one of the many benefits to being an ACSS Member. To find out about all the benefits ACSS membership has to offer, click here.