Practices Sectors Private clients

Compliance and Sanctions Law

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Products

One of BGP Litigation’s key specialisation areas is legal support and advice on compliance and sanctions matters. Being unpredictable, unexpected and non-transparent, each new round of sanctions brings in a number of challenges for Russian and international businesses, and each solution requires in-depth and multifaceted expertise and bespoke service.

BGP Litigation specialises in providing comprehensive legal advice to businesses seeking to mitigate risks and maximise opportunities in the context of external economic and trade restrictions imposed on organisations and individuals. In response to the business requests for more sophisticated compliance policies and risk management systems, BGP Litigation has accumulated the best practices in risk identification, monitoring and assessment as well as sanctions law and compliance in a variety of economic sectors, including finance, manufacturing, insurance, pharmaceuticals, energy etc.

BGP Litigation is focused on handling business tasks – we analyse the applicability of sanctions, develop and implement risk mitigation arrangements, engage with foreign regulators, secure specific licenses and permits, structure sanctions-related transactions and represent clients suspected to be in breach of any sanctions regimes. BGP Litigation’s sanctions law and compliance practice group is one of the largest and long-living in the legal services market. BGP Litigation’s lawyers and attorneys advise clients on a broad range of sanctions compliance matters.

Our competitive advantage is a truly integrated approach to a client matter. What makes this possible is, on the one hand, a wide service offering – BGP Litigation operates in 18 practice areas, including tax and customs matters, transactional support, private equity etc. On the other hand, our lawyers are deeply immersed in the business specifics and work hand in hand with the client which is particularly critical for matters involving sanctions against businesses and individuals. With an office in the UAE and a wide network of contacts and connections in other jurisdictions, we are afforded the ability to advise in any region of our clients’ presence.

Services
Assessing the chances and probability of being added to the sanctions lists in the U.S., EU, UK or any other jurisdiction
Developing risk mitigation programmes for foreign shareholders in Russian companies
Drafting expert opinions for Russian and foreign courts on all aspects of application of sanctions and Russian countermeasures as well as force majeure events resulting from such sanctions or countermeasures
Advising on the application of Russian counter-sanctions
Assisting with restructurings and elaborating zero-risk asset management solutions
Designing targeted training programmes in relation to sanctions and trade restrictions, sanctions compliance and sanctions risk mitigation
Providing transactional support and running legal due diligence exercises
Dealing with international compliance databases World-Check, Dow Jones, LexisNexis and their Russian counterparts to align any information about companies, their beneficial owners and senior managers with reality.
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Removal from such databases using available legal remedies, adjustment of information
Issuing English-language legal opinions confirming the client’s risk factor to be shared with financial institutions, foreign counterparties or partners with a view to preserve or enter into business relations
Advising on the mitigation of the risks of being targeted by sanctions in the U.S., EU, UK or any other jurisdiction; developing tailored practical guidelines to reduce such risks
Advising on export controls:
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the U.S., EU, UK and other jurisdictions; assessing the applicability of the export control regulations of those jurisdictions to specific transactions and the eligibility for a license (a specific permit).
Building and implementing sanctions compliance programmes on a turnkey basis, including the development of targeted policies to manage sanctions risks and internal policies and procedures governing the relevant business processes (KYC, transactional due
Securing specific asset release licenses from OFAC, OFSI, BAFA, SECO and other regulators
Participating in the negotiations with clients, investors and counterparties to amend existing agreements if any sanctions event occurs that affects the possibility of contractual performance
Creating a roadmap on the off chance that blocking sanctions are imposed in any jurisdiction: what should be done before and after sanctions are imposed
Assessing the existence and magnitude of criminal law risks existing under U.S. law for the beneficial owners and senior management as well as the probability and conditions of materialisation of such risks
Providing routine anti-crisis advice on any matters arising from the placement on the sanctions lists administered in any jurisdiction
Managing administrative and court proceedings in relation to the removal from the sanctions lists maintained by the U.S. (SDN list), EU, UK, Canada, Switzerland, Australia and other jurisdictions

Products

We advised:

an online grocery delivery service

on applicable U.S. and EU law regulations and in relation to a corporate restructuring and redomicilation in the context of sanctions and restrictions

an ex-Vice President of a Top 5 Russian bank

in relation to the removal of U.S. blocking sanctions. We investigated into the circumstances and background of such sanctions and prepared a tailored strategy to eliminate the relevant grounds. The strategy was ultimately implemented, and our client was removed from the SDN list

the largest diversified corporate group in Uzbekistan

with assets in the oil production, transport, manufacturing and other sectors in relation to the development and implementation of a sanctions compliance programme

private investors

on the unblocking and transfer of the assets frozen by Euroclear (more than EUR 100 million in total value); 17 licences were obtained from Belgium’s Treasury

a client

in relation to a legal opinion confirming the impossibility of performance of a special investment contract due to car export restrictions imposed by Japan; on the basis of this opinion, a force majeure certificate was issued by the Chamber of Commerce and Industry of one of Russia’s regions and was further submitted to the Russian Ministry of Industry and Trade

a Russian container operator

on the response to the query from the panel of experts of the UN Security Council Sanctions Committee on North Korea within the framework of their investigation of alleged violations (by other persons) of the UN sanctions

the management team of a Russian company

included in the list of economically significant organisations, in relation to the imposition of U.S., EU and UK sanctions and the claims brought by the Russian Ministry of Industry and Trade seeking to suspend the corporate rights of an EU shareholder; a risk mitigation roadmap was prepared

a Russian businessman in the online education sector

targeted by Ukrainian blocking sanctions in relation to the assessment and mitigation of the “relocation” to the U.S., EU and UK sanctions lists. Our work included the development of risk management and mitigation recommendations and the relevant step plan in case the risks materialise

Team

Sergey Glandin
Partner, attorney, PhD in Law — Compliance and Sanctions Law
Sergey Morozov
Partner — Cross-border disputes, Sanctions law and compliance

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