In recent weeks, there have been a number of noteworthy developments highlighting the increasing focus that US, EU, UK and other governments are placing on the potential circumvention of sanctions against Russia, and the roles of third countries and companies in facilitating the circumvention or undermining of such sanctions measures. These anti-circumvention efforts are taking place in the context of the G7’s concerted effort to bolster sanctions enforcement around the world, through the creation of…
On March 7, 2022, the US Treasury Department’s Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (“FinCEN”) issued an alert to financial institutions warning about potential attempts to evade US sanctions and other restrictions imposed on Russia and Belarus (“Alert”). The Alert includes red flags that financial institutions should review to help identify potential attempts to avoid sanctions, with a particular focus on convertible virtual currency (“CVC”), and also reminds companies of their reporting obligations under the Bank Secrecy…
Financial institutions face an increasingly complex sanctions compliance environment. Sanctions are increasingly emerging at the forefront of compliance agendas given the proliferation of new restrictions and counter-measures, together with increasingly aggressive enforcement action extra-territorially. This is impacting both financial institutions and their clients, leading to expectations for more robust compliance programs for both. This has been acutely felt most recently in the Middle East following the USD 100 million sanctions fine against a Dubai based…