Rambod Behboodi has extensive experience in international trade law and policy. As trade litigator, he has advised on and argued NAFTA and WTO cases. As trade diplomat, he served on postings to the WTO and the European Commission in Geneva and Brussels. Throughout his career, he has been involved in trade negotiations, advice on WTO-consistency of domestic policy, and on the implementation of trade agreements.

Rambod also has considerable depth in financial services regulation and trade. He was General Counsel at Canada’s Finance Ministry during the Financial Crisis, and has delivered numerous papers and presentations on FinTech and cryptocurrency regulation. Before returning to Geneva in 2016, he was named the Canadian Competition Bureau’s first Deputy Commissioner for Competition Promotion and established the branch.

Rambod obtained his law degrees at the University of Toronto and articled in Toronto, where he worked on cases before the CITT, the Federal Court of Appeal and FTA panels. Called to the Bar of Ontario in 1994, he joined Canada’s diplomatic service as a trade lawyer, working on and arguing NAFTA and WTO cases, participating in multilateral environmental negotiations, and advising on issues including agricultural trade, subsidies and antidumping, export controls, and technical barriers to trade. Following two diplomatic postings, he served as Counsel in the Privy Council Office and joined Canada’s Finance Ministry as General Counsel, General Legal Services after the 2008 financial crisis.

As General Counsel, he was responsible for the provision of strategic and legal advice in respect of Finance Canada’s non-tax business lines: regulatory responses to the 2008 financial crisis; banking – including consumer protection and prudential oversight; financial services trade; money laundering; customs and trade rules; the National Debt and related financial instruments and transactions; international financial institutions; and the National Budget.

As the Competition Bureau’s first Deputy Commissioner – Competition Promotion, Rambod was responsible for economic advocacy, international negotiations, strategic planning and communications. He established the Bureau’s first compliance program. In 2016, he joined the WTO as Counsellor in the Rules Division, and in 2017 the law firm of King & Spalding as international trade Partner.

He is the author of a book on international trade law and numerous articles and presentations on international law and international economic regulation, and has taught international economic and trade law in various universities in Canada and Europe. He is an avid skier, photographer and travel-blogger, and speaks French and Farsi fluently.