On 20 July 2020, UK Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab announced (through a statement to the House of Commons) that as part of the UK's response to China’s imposition of new national security laws on Hong Kong...more
Governments all over the world are continuing to take steps to strengthen their powers to intervene in foreign direct investments ("FDI") into their countries. These changes come at a time of increased scrutiny of foreign...more
The UK Government has issued sanctions for the first time under the new global human rights sanctions regime against individuals and organisations responsible for human right violations. This is the first wave of designations...more
On 29 June 2020, the final rule expanding the military end user/user controls (MEU) issued by the Bureau of Industry and Security (BIS) went into effect. On 26 June 2020, BIS issued an FAQs guidance document that provides...more
The European Commission has referred Austria, Belgium and the Netherlands to the Court of Justice of the European Union for failing to fully implement the fourth Anti-Money Laundering Directive (4AMLD) into national law....more
The EU has extended until 31 January 2021 restrictive measures against Russia that target the financial, energy and defence sectors, as well as the area of dual-use goods....more
The Council of the European Union has imposed restrictive measures on 11 leading Venezuelan officials, because of their role in acts and decisions undermining democracy and the rule of law in Venezuela....more
The Council of the European Union has called on Member States and the European Commission to do more to tackle serious and organised crime and make financial investigations a top priority in the fight against it....more
Amidst the global COVID-19 pandemic many things are uncertain. For businesses, this is further compounded by the rapidly changing and temporary measures that governments are launching to limit the financial fallout of the...more
On 28 April the U.S. Commerce Department, Bureau of Industry and Security published two final rules and a proposed rule amending the Export Administration Regulations that will further restrict and regulate transactions...more
The Council of the European Union has extended its human rights sanctions against Iran until 13 April 2021.
...more
Members of the UK Houses of Commons and Lords have made the case for the country's Magnitsky sanctions regime to be harmonised with that of other allied countries to include people involved in corruption in addition to human...more
Members of the European Parliament (MEPs) have called on the EU to push ahead formulating its human rights sanctions regime, in spite the current COVID-19 crisis, as well as ensuring that Sergei Magnitsky's name appears in...more
The disruption linked to COVID-19 already affects the global economy significantly, including M&A transactions in Europe and across the globe. On the regulatory side, many deals face challenges caused by national authorities'...more
In response to the global outbreak of the COVID-19 virus, the EU and various member states have taken measures to ensure continuity of supply of personal protective equipment (PPE) and address shortages of healthcare...more
As of 16 March 2020 Iran Air and a number of other entities were placed on the Bureau of Industry and Security's (BIS) Entity List.
Summary -
Companies that use Iran Air as transport, particularly companies engaging in...more
3/17/2020
/ Airlines ,
Aviation Industry ,
Bureau of Industry and Security (BIS) ,
Entity List ,
Export Administration Regulations (EAR) ,
Export Controls ,
Exports ,
Foreign Policy ,
General Licenses ,
Iran ,
National Security ,
Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) ,
Prohibited Transactions
The UK’s consumer sector has shown resilience against the backdrop of challenging political and economic conditions. Consumers in the UK remain willing to spend; however, the way in which they do so is changing, with...more
2/19/2020
/ Arbitration ,
B2B Transactions ,
Consumer Protection Laws ,
Customs ,
Data Privacy ,
Doing Business ,
E-Commerce ,
Exports ,
Financial Services Industry ,
Imports ,
Intellectual Property Protection ,
Ownership of Works ,
Payment Systems ,
Real Estate Market ,
Regulatory Oversight ,
Regulatory Standards ,
Strict Product Liability ,
Supply Chain ,
Tariffs ,
UK
The 2014 Global Summit to End Sexual Violence in Conflict was hosted by former Foreign Secretary William Hague and Angelina Jolie, Special Envoy for the United Nations ("UN") High Commissioner for Refugees. It was...more
1/31/2020
/ Compensation ,
Counter-Terrorist ,
Crime Victims ,
Economic Sanctions ,
Enforcement Actions ,
Human Rights ,
Penalties ,
Refugees ,
Reparation Claims ,
Sexual Abuse ,
Sexual Assault ,
Terrorist Financing Regulations ,
United Nations ,
Vulnerable Victims
Earlier this month, France, Germany and the UK triggered the dispute process under the Iran nuclear deal, saying they had been "left with no choice" after Iran decided to further reduce compliance with the agreement. The...more
1/29/2020
/ Consultation Periods ,
Cooperative Compliance Regime ,
Dispute Resolution ,
EU ,
Failure to Comply ,
Foreign Policy ,
Foreign Relations ,
France ,
Germany ,
Iran ,
Iran Sanctions ,
Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) ,
Nuclear Weapons ,
The Joint Commission ,
Trump Administration ,
UK
What lies ahead for the UK's future trading relationship with the EU and the US?
Following the Conservative Party's landslide victory in the UK general election, which Boris Johnson won on a promise to "get Brexit done",...more
12/17/2019
/ Cross-Border Transactions ,
EU ,
Exports ,
Foreign Relations ,
Imports ,
Trade Negotiations ,
Trade Relations ,
Trump Administration ,
UK ,
UK Brexit ,
US Trade Policies
The Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States (CFIUS or the committee), a U.S. government interagency committee that conducts national security reviews of foreign investments, has released its annual report for...more
On 6 November we held a breakfast seminar focusing on the most important sanctions issues affecting the City and how to manage compliance with different financial sanctions regimes effectively.
...more
12/3/2019
/ Anti-Money Laundering ,
Asset Management ,
Cooperative Compliance Regime ,
Corruption ,
Data Management ,
Economic Sanctions ,
EU ,
Financial Institutions ,
General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) ,
Know Your Customers ,
Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) ,
Personal Data ,
Private Equity ,
Regulatory Requirements ,
Sanction Violations ,
UK ,
White Collar Crimes
The EU regime for controlling the exports from the EU of products and/or technology that can be used for both civil and military purposes (dual-use items) is now 10 years old. As a result of the changes in technology and...more
Are politics and regulation fundamentally changing the climate for tech? Join us to explore what's happening, what's coming and what it means for businesses, investors and deals.
This event marks the launch of a...more
The EU-UK agreement reached on 17 October 2019 ("Agreement") revises the Irish backstop with a new protocol on Ireland/Northern Ireland ("NI protocol")....more
10/21/2019
/ Customs ,
Customs Unions ,
Duties ,
EU ,
EU Single Market ,
Exports ,
Foreign Relations ,
Imports ,
Ireland ,
Member State ,
Northern Ireland ,
Territorial Disputes ,
Trade Policy ,
Trade Relations ,
UK ,
UK Brexit