Regulatory

Sanctions

Sanctions

Overview

Clients engaged in cross-border commerce rely on Gibson Dunn to navigate the intricate and evolving landscape of financial and economic sanctions laws and regulations.

As governments increasingly use sanctions to achieve foreign policy and national security objectives, businesses must proactively manage compliance risks while maintaining operational efficiency and market access.

Our team advises clients on all aspects of sanctions compliance and enforcement, from assessing exposure and responding to regulatory inquiries and enforcement actions to mitigating risks associated with complex transactions and business relationships. We help companies develop, enhance, and implement tailored sanctions compliance programs that align with their specific risk profiles, industry requirements, and strategic goals. Our work includes designing robust internal controls, conducting internal investigations, defending against regulatory enforcement, delivering employee training, and advising on best practices for screening, due diligence, and transactional structuring to ensure compliance with U.S. and international sanctions regimes.

Members of our team are also frequently called upon to provide public counsel on these issues testifying before the U.S. Congress and U.K. Parliament.

Experience

Recent representations include:

  • Advised a U.S. public payments companies and its global subsidiaries, on a full spectrum of US, UK and EU economic sanctions compliance, particularly with respect to the new sanctions against Russia and Belarus arising from the war in Ukraine.
  • Advised a U.S. public multinational corporation, that provides financial technology services to clients across the financial services sector, in a number of matters involving economic sanctions and export controls. Our work has recently focused particularly on compliance with the new and emerging economic sanctions involving Russia and Belarus.
  • Advised the central bank of a Scandinavian country on a global basis to advise it on all aspects of the Russian sanctions relating to Ukraine as well as advising the client together with Russian counsel on Russian counter-sanctions.
  • Advised a major German DAX 30 bank’s Supervisory Board in all legal aspects relating to the handling of its Monitorship agreed to under a Consent order with the Department of Financial Services.
  • Advised a U.S. public multinational corporation, which offers a wide range of financial products and services, in the economic sanctions and export controls areas. Our work has recently focused on compliance with the Russia and Belarus economic sanctions regimes.
  • Advised a multinational investment bank and financial services company on compliance with the sanctions in the EU, UK and the US as well as all other jurisdictions which have implemented sanctions vis-à-vis Russia, as well as providing strategic advice to the bank in relation to its approach to risk management.
  • Acted as lead regulatory counsel to the world’s largest cryptoasset custodians and wallet provider to assist them across the globe on all their interactions with regulators. In the UK, we have advised the client in relation to their ongoing Section 166 review by the Financial Conduct Authority.
  • Provide advice to a Norwegian state-owned multinational energy company relating to Russian and Venezuelan trade sanctions.
  • Successfully represented a regional financial institution before the Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) and other agencies in responding to a subpoena following revelations of potentially sanctionable conduct.
  • Obtaining a specific license from Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) to provide healthcare-related services to persons resident in comprehensively sanctioned countries for a global provider of business processes and digital services.
  • Advising a non-U.S. cigarette paper manufacturer in negotiations with the Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) and the U.S. Department of Justice in connection with a sanctions enforcement action and settlement.
  • Advised the board of directors of a major financial institution in addressing sanctions governance short-falls and assisted the bank in developing robust policies, procedures, and training protocols along with voluntary disclosure processes.
  • Provided assistance to an American multinational oil and gas corporation in suit against the Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) following an enforcement action.
  • Advising a major European national oil corporation with significant exposure in legally challenging jurisdictions. We have advised on the ever-changing legal landscape, managed various streams of interrelated regulatory risk (including sanctions, anticorruption and money laundering), briefed legislative and executive branch actors on issues, and have worked with regulators to receive unprecedented exemptions providing safe harbors in mission critical operations.