The Law Society has called for clearer guidance on sanctions against Moscow amid growing concerns that the current regime is failing to harm the Russian economy. In a submission to the Treasury Select Committee’s inquiry on Russian Financial Sanctions, Chancery Lane also proposed that current disclosure obligations be reassessed.
The external counsel obligation requires any firm or practitioner providing legal or notarial services to ‘inform the Treasury as soon as practicable’ if a person has committed an offence under certain financial sanctions measures.
‘The disclosure obligation has disincentivised some UK companies from conducting sanctions compliance risk assessments; and has had no obvious countervailing effect,’ the Society said.
President Nick Emmerson said: ‘The inquiry presents an important opportunity for the government to consider concerns from the legal sector.’
Emmerson added that the timing for licensing under the sanctions regime needs clearer guidance and that the licensing grounds are also too narrow.
He said the external counsel reporting obligation ‘fundamentally misunderstands the role of law firms in advising clients concerning financial sanctions requirements’.
