Innospec, an international specialty chemicals company, has appointed Kevin Abikoff, chair of the anti-corruption and internal investigations practice group at law firm Hughes Hubbard & Reed, as its external compliance monitor.

As part of Innospec's resolution with the Department of Justice and Securities and Exchange Commission and the U.K. Serious Fraud Office, Innospec committed to retain the first-ever external compliance monitor jointly appointed by U.S. and U.K. authorities.

Abikoff brings to this monitorship his extensive anti-corruption experience, which covers the full spectrum of anti-corruption representations from representing companies before investigating authorities, to developing and implementing compliance programs, to counseling companies about working with a compliance monitor.

Abikoff has been involved in some of the largest recent multinational FCPA investigations, and he was previously appointed by the United Nations as the independent compliance monitor for a French-based inspection services company following its debarment by the United Nations.

Abikoff is currently a visiting faculty member of the TRACE Anti-Bribery Specialist Accreditation program, the first of its kind in the anti-bribery compliance community and a leading source for anti-bribery compliance training. He was the first U.S. member of the Certification Committee of ETHIC Intelligence, a Paris-based group that assesses corporate anti-corruption policies and certifies compliance with international legal standards. Prior to joining Hughes Hubbard, Abikoff served as the general counsel of a major U.S. financial services company.

Abikoff has engaged Hughes Hubbard partner John Wood and prominent U.K. barrister Richard Lissack QC to assist in the monitorship.