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Sanctions Law and Compliance Practice

As part of Sanctions Law and Compliance Practice, we advise on various sanctions issues, including:

  • Identification of sanctioned persons: such individuals and legal entities are expressly named in the sanctions lists, but, pursuant to EU and US sanctions laws, restrictions apply to companies 50% in which is owned, directly or indirectly, by one or more persons from a sanctions list (this implies the need for a complete review of the company's corporate structure, including its ultimate beneficial owners).
  • Advising on sectoral sanctions (sanctions imposed on entire industries): advice on sanctioned financial instruments; advice on restrictions in various industries, such as energy, defense and dual-use products; drafting of legal opinions for client's banks and counterparties; and other issues related to sectoral sanctions. 
  • Advising on regional sanctions.
  • Sanctions compliance: review of a company's corporate and contractual structure for compliance with sanctions laws in jurisdictions of the company's business presence, and advising on possible changes to this structure.
  • Preparation of an individual US sanctions law compliance program (for legal entities whose shareholders or beneficiaries are a US Person, or if the company conducts business in the United States).
  • Sanctions due diligence: review of a project or a proposed counterparty (i.e. whether joining a project or start of business with a specific party may result in legal consequences arising from sanctions).
  • Advising Western partners on licenses from relevant EU/US authorities, such as the European Council or the OFAC, etc., for doing business in Russia or with sanctioned persons.
  • Preparation of a Russian businessperson's media portrait to assess the probability of their inclusion in the US sanctions list.
  • Assessment of chances for removal from the sanctions list through the Court of Justice of the European Union or a US federal court.
  • Comprehensive advice on foreign legal proceedings relating to removal from sanctions lists.
  • Advising on removal from the SDN list through administrative reconsideration pursuant to §501.807.
  • Critical analysis of sanctions advice offered by Western lobbying and law firms based on their cost, quality, and effectiveness.
  • Other advice on practices used by the OFAC, the US sanctions authority, and the European Council, the European sanctions authority, when preparing or maintaining sanctions lists or removing of entities and individuals from these lists.
  • Turnkey sanctions compliance solutions, training a designated manager to deal with these issues.
  • Advising on matters related to extraterritorial laws, such as US FCPA, UK Anti-Bribery Law, relevant OECD laws.
  • Russian “anti-sanctions” and counter-measures: Legal analysis of the sanctions law of the Russian Federation and reciprocal initiatives of Russian authorities; drafting opinions on legal consequences and risks of criminal liability for directors of foreign companies and nonresident individuals operating in Russia.

The separate aria of practice is removing names from the World-Check (Refinitiv by Thomson Reuters) and similar databases:

Use of PEP (politically exposed person) status information by compliance officers of Western banks and financial institutions can be negative for our clients, their business, family, and business partners. Our legal services in this area focus on the following:

  • Removal from the Refinitiv database (previously known as World-Check), and from similar databases such as WorldCompliance by LexisNexis and RDC by Regulatory Data Corp.
  • Correcting information in these databases to match actual relevant facts.
  • Advising on potential risks and consequences resulting from PEP, PEP-S and other status being assigned to our clients and their family. Drafting memoranda, reports and opinions as to the reasons and grounds for the sanctions-related “toxicity” discovered with regard to our clients and any associated exposure for Western banks arising from their business relationship our clients.