Global Economic Sanctions

Multinationals across Europe have faced a rapidly evolving landscape of sanctions, export controls, and trade measures. This session reviews the past 12 months of developments, including Russia, China, secondary sanctions on Venezuela, updates on IEEPA-related tariffs, and recent U.S. Supreme Court decisions.

Our Co-Chairs will set the stage for the conference with practical insights on compliance, risk mitigation and managing uncertainty.

This panel will engage the audience in practical sanctions and export controls scenarios which are relevant for conference attendees in legal, ethical compliance, and trade compliance roles.

Topics will include:

• Identifying multi-jurisdictional U.S., EU, UK, and Swiss sanctions and export controls considerations;
• Managing whistle-blower complaints;
• Sanctioned ownership changes;
• Actions by corporate affiliates and senior management; and
• IT support and consulting services.

As sanctions targeting Russia continue to evolve, companies operating in the energy and industrial sectors face complex compliance challenges. This session will focus on oil, gas, and key industrial sectors, providing participants with actionable insights into navigating regulatory obligations, mitigating risk, and responding to enforcement trends. Building on the pre-conference workshops, attendees will gain a deeper analysis of sector-specific sanctions, multi-jurisdictional compliance, and emerging circumvention tactics.

• The nuances of current sanctions targeting Russia’s oil, gas, and key industrial sectors
• Impact of sanctions on global energy markets, trade, and supply chains
• The implications of secondary sanctions for third-country operations
• Sector-specific restrictions:
  • Energy (crude, refined products, trading)
• Industrial goods (metals, machinery, dual-use technology)
• “Best efforts” obligations and due diligence requirements under EU and U.S. regulations
• Strengthening screening, internal controls, and documentation to mitigate enforcement risk
• Emerging circumvention tactics: Shadow fleets, rerouted trade, and financial workarounds
• Enforcement trends and lessons learned from OFAC, OFSI, and EU authorities
• Practical steps for risk management and compliance programme adaptation

This session explores the challenges multinational companies face in harmonizing compliance programs across conflicting legal regimes, including extraterritorial US sanctions, EU regulations, and UK measures. Participants will gain insight into practical approaches for navigating overlapping jurisdictions, evolving Russian and Chinese restrictions, and the impact of global trade tensions. Experts will share strategies for mitigating risk, ensuring compliance, and aligning global operations with fast-changing sanctions frameworks.

• Finding balance in harmonizing compliance across US, EU, UK, and Russian sanctions frameworks
• Analyzing extraterritorial application of US sanctions and determining when other jurisdictions apply
• Navigating conflicting laws, including the EU Blocking Regulation and Canadian restrictions on US sanctions compliance
• Adapting compliance programs to evolving rules, including OFAC designations and the BIS 50% affiliate rule
• Evaluating divergence between sanctions regimes and anticipating infrastructure changes for Russian restrictions
• Aligning corporate practices with legal requirements across multiple jurisdictions, including touch points in India, Malaysia, and Canada
• Implementing agile automated compliance tools to respond quickly to sudden regulatory changes
• Documenting decisions carefully to demonstrate good faith compliance and mitigate enforcement risks

This session explores the evolving sanctions landscape across the Middle East, focusing on Iran and Syria, and the implications for humanitarian access, commercial engagement, and compliance. Experts will clarify the practical impact of Iran’s sanctions snapback and Syria’s recent relief measures for NGOs, banks, and businesses operating in the region. Attendees will gain insight into where policy, enforcement, business and humanitarian needs intersect.

• Assessing the renewed focus on Iran’s sanctions snapback and preventing missile and nuclear proliferation
• Examining U.S. and regional enforcement priorities affecting Iran and Syria
• Evaluating how banking de-risking continues restricting potential new business opportunities amid sanctions rollback and humanitarian aid despite minimal exposure risk
• Clarifying what qualifies under general humanitarian licenses versus activities requiring additional approval in the realm of both sanctions and export controls
• Analyzing the practical effects of Syria’s sanctions relief and remaining risk management and regulatory compliance challenges
• Advocating for stronger coordination between sanctions policy and private sector humanitarian operators in the Middle East

As sanctions regimes grow more complex and enforcement continues to intensify, organisations must continuously recalibrate how they assess (and re-assess) risk. This session will discuss the new approaches to revisiting, evaluating and ranking risks in a shifting geopolitical and compliance environment.

This session examines how AI tools can enhance screening, detect breaches, streamline workflows, and support decision-making, while addressing risks such as bias, transparency, and overreliance. Points of discussion include:

• Leveraging AI and machine learning to enhance sanctions screening, reduce false positives, and improve detection accuracy
• Using AI for breach detection, export control compliance, and high-volume document or payment processing
• Exploring agentic AI and Retrieval-Augmented Generation (RAG) for analyzing multiple data sources and identifying sanctions evasion
• Balancing AI efficiency with human oversight to manage bias, transparency, and accountability risks
• Navigating complex regulatory frameworks across the U.S., EU, and China, including dual-use concerns
• Identifying red flags and determining when manual review of AI outputs is necessary
• Integrating AI safely into compliance programs while improving operational efficiency and decision-making

This panel explores the effectiveness of sanctions in today’s geopolitical landscape, examining EU transition bans, asset freezes, and the broader ethical, economic, and policy considerations. Experts from law, industry, politics, and humanitarian sectors will discuss whether sanctions achieve their goals and how they influence behavior globally.

• Differentiating EU transition bans and asset freezes: rationale, application, and scope
• Empirical and historical evidence of sanctions’ effectiveness
• Economic considerations: weighing the costs versus benefits of sanctions programs
• Realistic and measurable goals: are current sanctions designed to achieve achievable outcomes?
• Geopolitical and ethical implications of sanctions in today’s global environment