Overview

Mayer Brown’s Sanctions & Export Controls team helps clients comply with and navigate the intricacies of UN, US, EU, UK and multilateral sanctions, as well as restrictions on exports and reexports of goods, software, technology and ancillary services. Our work spans commercial, dual-use and military controls, including controls on “deemed exports.”

With the fluidity of sanctions surrounding the Ukraine-Russia conflict, we are compiling resources and news almost daily on sanctions imposed by the US, UK and EU; the response by Russia and Ukraine; and other notable developments, which includes sanctions news from other countries around the globe. Our Trade Compliance group is advising clients around the world on these sanctions and related issues.

We assist clients with compliance issues arising under various sanctions programs, both country-based and list-based. Because we are in frequent contact with sanctions and export control regulators, our team understands how agencies interpret and enforce regulations in specific circumstances. We regularly represent our clients before major agencies, including the US Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC), the US State and Commerce Departments, the UK Office of Financial Sanctions Implementation (OFSI), the UK Export Control Joint Unit (ECJU), the EU institutions and EU member state authorities.

Our sector experience is broad: we work with technology businesses, logistics companies, consumer goods and industrial equipment manufacturers, aerospace and defense, financial institutions and insurance companies, among others. Our advice is always buoyed by an insider’s viewpoint, with numerous team members previously occupying high-level positions in the government (e.g., the former head of enforcement at OFAC) and in-house export functions (including at a defense contractor under State Department monitorship).

Our Sanctions & Export controls team knows how to best address each client’s unique difficulties with the inconsistencies and tensions that arise between the laws of different jurisdictions. We help clients around the world understand the requirements of the UN, US, EU, UK and other governing bodies, and how to comply with those requirements while obeying their own national laws and staying true to their internal compliance programs. Our lawyers in Washington, Brussels and London work seamlessly to provide joint responses to client queries on sanctions and export controls issues worldwide.

Global Sanctions Weekly Update: Ukraine-Russia Conflict

Expérience

  • Advising on the application of UN, US, EU and UK sanctions regulations to a wide range of business conduct across an array of industries around the word.
  • Assisting companies in obtaining licenses to authorize otherwise prohibited transactions.
  • Developing and implementing internal compliance programs to reduce the risk of export control and sanctions violations by establishing compliance policies, internal training programs, compliance certification instruments, and internal auditor evaluations of export control and sanctions compliance measures.
  • Advising on particular export, re-export, and investment transactions to ensure compliance with applicable controls and sanctions.
  • Filing and facilitating export license, commodity classification and commodity jurisdiction applications, as well as license applications under sanctions programs.
  • Representing clients in regulatory proceedings and enforcement actions before such agencies as the US Department of Commerce, the US Department of State, the US Department of the Treasury, OFSI, ECJU, and the EU institutions as well as the EU Member State authorities (including the UK authorities, which is of particular relevance post-Brexit).
  • Advising on mergers and acquisitions of companies engaged in export business or international projects by helping clients perform effective due diligence on the compliance history and internal compliance processes of target companies, negotiating appropriate compliance provisions in acquisition agreements, and integrating the acquired business into our clients’ compliance programs.