Seminar on sanctions and sanctions compliance

We held a seminar on sanctions compliance on Tuesday 14 June, at our offices in London's Mayfair. 

Much of the seminar focussed on the sanctions that have been applied to Russia following the invasion of Ukraine, but the seminar also addressed wider issues, including the sanctions that continue to be applied to entities in Syria and on Iran. 

The seminar was delivered by:

Vivien Davies, Partner and Head of Sanctions, Fieldfisher

Henry Williams, Head of Investigations, Themis

Carel van Randwyck, Chief Growth Officer, Themis

Antonio Valente, Senior Manager, Economic Crime Prevention, Lloyds Bank

Vivien Davies explained the structure of the global sanctions regime, and in particular new and stricter regulations that would be coming into effect in the UK the following day. She also described how even entities or individuals that are not explicitly sanctioned may be unsuitable counterparties, if they are connnected in some way to a sanctioned entity.

Henry Williams and Carel van Randwyck demonstrated one of Themis's digital tools that tracks sanctioned entities and individuals, and companies and people who are informally linked to them. They emphasised the importance of searching widely, including reviewing ‘adverse media’ when screening existing and potential customers.

Antonio Valente outlined how his bank addresses the practical issues of sanctions compliance, and led an interesting discussion on the respective roles of the business line – the ‘first line of defence’ – and the compliance function, which sits in the second line of defence.

The seminar and discussion was followed by a buffet dinner that enabled speakers and participants to mingle informally. 

The presentations delivered at the event are attached below, as are two examples of ‘adverse media’ that Henry Williams used to illustrate his presentation. 

Photographs from the event can be seen on our Gallery page. 

The event was made possible through generous sponsorship from Fieldfisher and Themis.