Judgment 4A_537/2025 of 28 April 2026 In its recent judgment 4A_537/2025 of 28 April 2026, the Swiss Federal Supreme Court upheld the judgment of the Commercial Court of the Canton of Zurich of 17 September 2025 (HG230210-O) and provided important guidance on the interpretation of Swiss sanctions laws – specifically on the asset freeze and reporting obligations imposed on financial institutions holding or managing funds. The Swiss Federal Supreme Court clarified, first, the evidentiary threshold…
On 22 May 2026, the Swiss Federal Council announced the expansion of its sanctions lists against Russia and Belarus (see press release here). With this step, Switzerland has partially implemented the measures adopted by the EU under its 20th sanctions package. The corresponding amendments to the Ordinance on Measures in Connection with the Situation in Ukraine (“Ukraine Ordinance”) and the Ordinance on Measures against Belarus (“Belarus Ordinance”) entered into force on 22 May 2026. Following…
On 19 May 2026, the UK Government published the Russia (Sanctions) (EU Exit) (Amendment) Regulations 2026 (SI 2026/543) (the “Amendment Regulations”), introducing numerous amendments to the Russia (Sanctions) (EU Exit) Regulations 2019 (the “Regulations”). The Amendment Regulations introduce certain new trade prohibitions and expand existing controls across the Russia sanctions regime. The Amendment Regulations come into force on 20 May 2026 and, in short, include: Supplementing this, the Office of Trade Sanctions Implementation (“OTSI”) issued…
The UK’s Office of Financial Sanctions Implementation (OFSI) has introduced The Sanctions (EU Exit) (Miscellaneous Amendment) Regulations 2026 (the “Regulations”), which came into force on 13 May 2026. The Regulations create new powers for the UK government to impose licensing requirements on exports where it considers there is a high risk of the goods or related technology being diverted to a sanctioned person or destination. For further details about the Sanctions End-Use Controls and other…