A new set of overlooked EU import restrictions on iron and steel products with links to Russia could be a heavy compliance lift for certain importers, Baker McKenzie said in a July 6 client alert. The new restrictions, outlined in the EU’s most recent Russia sanctions package (see 2306230013), haven’t gotten the “attention they deserve,” the firm said, adding that they will force certain “economic operators” to prove the goods they’re importing “do not contain any Russia-originating sanctioned iron or steel item.”
A new U.K. law that could prevent lawyers from providing certain legal services in the context of Russia sanctions is causing uncertainty within the legal industry, law firms said. Baker McKenzie said the legal community is working with U.K. authorities to “clarify the scope of the new sanctions measures,” but “in lieu of any imminent published guidance, businesses should assess” their in-house legal teams, particularly if they’re providing legal advisory services from the U.K.
The U.K.'s Office of Financial Sanctions Implementation dropped one name from its Russia sanctions regime in a July 6 notice, removing Lev Aronovich Khasis, former first deputy chairman of the executive board of PJSC Sberbank.
The European Parliament's Civil Liberties Committee on July 6 adopted a draft law to address violating and circumventing EU sanctions. The law would impose a set of common definitions of sanctions breaches and set minimum penalties across the bloc, the parliament said. Violations would include not freezing funds or not respecting travel bans along with doing business with state-owned entities of nations subject to sanctions.
The U.N. Security Council and the U.K. recently amended 16 North Korea-related entries on their sanctions lists. The entries include bankers, nuclear researchers and procurers, and military officials.
House lawmakers submitted a host of proposed export control- and sanctions-related amendments as part of the FY 2024 National Defense Authorization Act, including measures that could ease defense technology sharing restrictions, harmonize the Entity List with certain U.S. sanctions and investment restrictions and place new export control requirements on items destined to China and Iran. Other amendments could lead to new sanctions on Chinese technology companies and government officials, add the USDA to the Committee on Foreign Investment in the U.S., establish a new sanctions coordination office in the State Department and more.
A former board member of a Russian state-owned bank asked a federal court to order the U.S. to remove her from a U.S. sanctions list, saying there is “no factual basis” that supports her listing. In a complaint recently filed with the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia, Elena Titova, a dual Russian and U.K. citizen, said she resigned from her position eight days after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine last year but was still added to the Treasury Department’s Specially Designated Nationals List even though she hasn’t been designated by any “other nation in the world.”
The EU should impose an embargo on Russian liquefied natural gas imports to achieve its pursuit of banning all Russian fossil-fuel shipments into the bloc by 2027, Brussels-based think tank Bruegel said this week. The think tank said the EU "can manage" without the LNG imports, adding that the impact would not be comparable to the tremors felt from the wind down of Russian pipeline gas imports.
A new law announced by the U.K. June 29 could prevent lawyers from providing legal services to Russian companies in "certain business deals -- thwarting the nation from benefitting economically from" British legal services, the Ministry of Justice said. The rules are meant to build on existing restrictions imposed on Russia covering the provision of legal services by also extending these restrictions "to facilitate certain commercial activity which benefits the country." The legislation could also block "legal professionals" from advising international companies on lending decisions to Russian companies, the ministry said.
The Bureau of Industry and Security this week removed a Russian tour company from a temporary denial order imposed against Nordwind Airlines, a Russian airline that BIS said illegally operates aircraft on flights into and out of the country.