OVERVIEW OF THE LATEST COURT PRACTICE ON THE RUSSIAN SANCTIONS-RELATED AMENDMENTS—IS WINTER COMING?

This analysis was first published on Lexis®PSL on 29 October 2021 and can be found here (subscription required). Ivan Teselkin, partner, Maria Dolotova, of counsel, Alexander Gridasov, senior associate, and Sergei Eremin, senior associate, of Herbert Smith Freehills provide an overview of Russian court decisions on the impact of recent amendments to Russian law relating … Read more

LANDMARK RULING ON THE WTO NATIONAL SECURITY EXCEPTION

In a landmark decision concerning Ukraine’s complaint against Russia’s transit restrictions, a WTO Panel has ruled for the first time on the nature of the GATT national security exception. The Panel took the view that the invocation of the exception is justiciable and subject to scrutiny by the WTO Dispute Settlement Body (DSB). This is contrary to the position … Read more

English Court of Appeal finds good arguable case that public policy exception applies to the foreign Act of State Doctrine allowing Ukraine to argue duress in claim under Eurobonds

In Ukraine v The Law Debenture Trust Corporation plc [2018] EWCA Civ 2026 the English Court of Appeal (the Court) partially upheld an appeal in favour of the state of Ukraine (Ukraine), reversing in part the summary judgment granted to The Law Debenture Trust Corporation plc (the Claimant) by the Commercial Court. The Claimant brought … Read more

EU prolongs Russian sectoral sanctions until July 2016

On 21 December, the Council of the EU announced that the EU's economic sanctions against Russia would be extended until 31 July 2016.   These measures were originally introduced for a one year period in July 2014 and were extended until 31 January 2016 in June 2015 when the EU confirmed that the duration of the … Read more

Russia-related sanctions: US Issues important advisory on ensuring compliance with Crimea sanctions regime and expands sanctions designations

The US Department of the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (“OFAC”) recently added a number of new persons and individuals to the US’s Specially Designated Nationals (“SDN”) and Sectoral Sanctions Initiative (“SSI”) lists. OFAC also issued new guidelines to strengthen compliance with the existing Crimea sanctions regime. While Treasury Department officials noted that the … Read more

EU sanctions update: EU extends duration of sanctions against Russia

The EU has recently announced an extension of its sanctions imposed in response to the situation in Ukraine.  EU leaders had previously confirmed that the duration of sanctions affecting Russia would be linked to the implementation of the Minsk Agreements, currently foreseen to be completed by 31 December 2015.  The EU has therefore taken steps … Read more

EU sanctions update: Russia

Our latest briefing summarises recent developments in the EU’s sanctions imposed against Russia.  In particular, we provide an overview of (a) new measures relating to Crimea and Sevastopol and (b) new European Commission guidance on certain of the financial sector restrictions applied to listed Russian entities.  For further background on these sanctions, please see our … Read more

EU publishes legislation expanding sectoral sanctions against Russia

The EU has today published new legislation expanding its existing sanctions against Russia.  This briefing provides an overview of the new measures, namely: an expansion of the restrictions on dealing in transferable securities issued by listed Russian banks; the application of these restrictions to listed Russian companies in the military and oil sectors; additional trade … Read more