Companies operating internationally face a growing number of economic sanctions regimes imposed by individual states, regional bodies such as the European Union, and global organizations such as the United Nations. In the last few years we have seen significantly increased activity around sanctions within the EU, including unprecedented sanctions against Iran and Syria. The scope of each program varies enormously and the substantive provisions can change suddenly with little or no advance notice, and can have a sudden and very significant impact on existing business lines. The EU presents a particularly complex problem. Any given transaction can be subject to sanctions implemented by a number of different countries, and EU member states do not necessarily interpret or implement the provisions of EU legislation in the same way. Agencies can also be very hesitant to provide guidance. The compliance burden which this places on the corporate world is therefore growing fast. Financial institutions in particular are increasingly expected by regulators and enforcement authorities to help to ‘police’ sanctions.

Topics covered in this workshop will include the following:

• What do EU sanctions prohibit and who has to comply?
• Circumvention offences: what to look out for
• The impact and effect of EU anti-blocking legislation (e.g. German anti-blocking laws) and how to resolve conflicts with US law
• Personal liability of EU nationals working outside the EU
• Conflicts between sanctions compliance and EU data privacy and equality laws
• Enhanced enforcement efforts by EU agencies.
• Some horizon-spotting: what trends do we see coming down the line in the EU?