At the Annual Compliance conference recently held in London, Baker McKenzie hosted a session on ‘The evolving national security, sanctions and export controls landscape’. This session introduced the concept of the “trade toolbox” — a growing set of measures designed to manage national security risks through trade and investment restrictions. Speakers highlighted the increasing complexity of global compliance, particularly in relation to business relating to China, Russia, and in the Middle East. China: outbound investment,…
On June 30, 2025, President Trump issued Executive Order 14312 (the “Syria EO”) terminating the U.S. comprehensive sanctions program targeting Syria, while also continuing to maintain and expand certain sanctions targeting former Syrian President Bashar al-Assad and others associated with the former Syrian regime. In addition, the U.S. State Department revoked the designation of Hay’at Tahrir al-Sham’s (“HTS”) as a Foreign Terrorist Organization (“FTO”) on July 8, 2025. OFAC has taken the following actions to implement…
On 7 April 2025, the Dutch government announced changes to certain general licenses for transfers of dual-use and military items, as follows: These changes will be effective from 8 April 2025. Therefore, operators can no longer rely on these general licenses for transfers that are no longer covered by the respective general licenses because of the above changes. Instead, operators will need to confirm whether another general license is available (requiring a one-off prior registration…
Our Baker McKenzie’s Global Trade and Sanctions Practice recently held a snap webinar on Looking ahead to future developments in US, EU and UK Russia sanctions policy.The session discussed the current sanctions frameworks in relation to Russia, how these could be relaxed, and how the EU and UK may respond, drawing on past experiences where sanctions programmes have been lifted. The session also provided practical guidance on what companies can do now to be prepared for these potential…