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Sanctions

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The UK Department for International Trade has recently published guidance on how the UK will transpose and implement the EU Blocking Regulation (Council Regulation (EC) 2271/96) post-Brexit. The EU Blocking Regulation seeks to counter the extra-territorial impact of certain US sanctions (the “proscribed US sanctions”), currently in respect of Iran and Cuba (please see our previous blog post on updates of the EU Blocking Regulation in respect of Iran here). During the transition period, the…

On Monday 6 July 2020, the UK introduced the first sanctions under its new Global Human Rights sanctions regime, targeting 47 individuals and 2 entities. The regulations setting out the sanctions are made under the Sanctions and Anti-Money Laundering Act 2018 (the “Sanctions Act”) and impose asset freezes and travel bans on individuals and entities responsible for or involved in serious violations of human rights. The Sanctions Act was introduced to allow the UK to…

On 27 February 2020, the European Council made its first designations under the designated party regime that it introduced in November 2019 in response to Turkey’s unauthorised drilling activities in the Eastern Mediterranean (see our previous update here). Two Turkish individuals have been designated with immediate effect: Mehmet Ferruh AKALIN, Vice-President (Assistant General Manager) and member of the Board of Directors of the Turkish Petroleum Corporation (TPAO); andAli Coscun NAMOGLU, Deputy Director of the Exploration…

On 30 January 2020, the Swiss Federal Council announced the first successful pilot transaction under the proposed Swiss Humanitarian Trade Arrangement (SHTA), a payment mechanism designed to enable the delivery of humanitarian goods to Iran. The SHTA was developed by Switzerland since autumn 2018 with the cooperation of relevant US and Iranian authorities, along with selected Swiss and interested banks.  Once finally agreed and implemented, it will become the first US OFAC-consented humanitarian trade arrangement,…