Sanctions Space

‘’In one week we have seen governments change their historical policy positions in what is really now being considered to be a watershed moment, particularly for defense policy.” In this episode, Justine is joined by Emily Rees, international trade policy expert and Founder, Trade Strategies, in which they discuss the enormous trade implications and challenges that will result from Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. Emily talks us through some of the key global exports and jurisdictions likely to be impacted, including the implications for major supply chain challenges as exports of essential materials used in the production of microchips, semiconductors, and other technology are disrupted, as well as the alarming prospect of heightened global food insecurity due to reductions in vital agricultural products such as wheat.

In this special episode, our two ACAMS podcasts meet for the second time - Financial Crime Matters and the Sanctions Space. Following conclusion of the second ACAMS Global Sanctions Summit, Justine and Kieran convene to discuss the current Russia-Ukraine crisis. Drawing on summit deliberations they explore the current state of play of the international sanctions response, including the prospect for a ‘start high, stay high’ approach.

“we should acknowledge the simple fact that, in economic terms, Russia matters much more to the EU than it does to the US, and that the EU matters to Russia much more than the US does to Russia.” In this episode, Justine is joined by George Voloshin, corporate intelligence expert and ACAMS CGSS instructor, in which they discuss Russian-EU trade and considerations for entities with Russian exposure. George provides a detailed overview of the dynamics of Russia and the EU’s economic relationship, including energy dependency, and talks to the difficulties of ascertaining ownership and control and conducting due diligence on high profile Russian business people of corporations, as well as what companies need to think about to prepare for a potential worst-case scenario. George is the Head of Paris Branch, Aperio Intelligence, having joined the firm in December 2016. Prior to joining Aperio, George headed the Russia/CIS coverage at a leading French corporate intelligence firm and previously collaborated with a number of UK-based advisory and analytical organisations as well as government clients. He is the author of two books on the geopolitics of Central Asia and over a hundred articles on international affairs, with a focus on Russia and the former Soviet Union which are the primary areas of his specialisation. You can read George’s full bio at: https://www.aperio-intelligence.com/team/george-voloshin/

‘Diplomacy is not dead, but significant differences remain… and Russia’s intentions vis-à-vis Ukraine still remain clear. That means the path of deterrence, the path of economic sanctions, remains highly relevant’. In this episode, Justine is joined by Maria Shagina, Visiting Research Fellow, Finnish Institute of International Affairs, where they discuss the state of play for diplomatic efforts between Russia and the West, considerations to keep in mind should the situation escalate further, and how the sanctions options being considered differ between the US and the EU. Dr Maria Shagina is a Visiting Fellow at the Center on US Politics and Power at the Finnish Institute of International Affairs (FIIA) and a member of the Geneva International Sanctions Network at the Graduate Institute, Geneva. Her research interests cover economic statecraft, international sanctions and energy politics, with a particular focus on the post-Soviet states. Her research on Russia sanctions has been cited in The New York Times, Washington Post, and Financial Times, among others. Before joining FIIA, Maria was a postdoctoral fellow at the Center for Eastern European Studies (CEES) at the University of Zurich. You can read Maria’s full bio at: https://www.fiia.fi/en/expert/maria-shagina

‘humanitarian groups cannot be expected to provide assistance in these complex areas without some risk… we have to accept that this is a situation where you cannot eliminate risk, it has to be managed’ In this episode, Justine is joined by Sue Eckert, Senior Associate (Non-resident), Humanitarian Agenda, Center for Strategic and International Studies, where they discuss United Nations Security Council Resolution 2615, including the complexity involved in passing the Resolution and significance it has for processing payments into Afghanistan. Justine and Sue also discuss the dire situation on the ground in Afghanistan, and next steps for the international community to ensure the successful flow of vital assistance. Sue has formerly served as assistant secretary of commerce for export administration responsible for dual-use export control and sanctions policies, and was a former staff member of the House of Representative's Committee on Foreign Affairs. Sue is also a co-chair of the humanitarian workstream of the ACAMS International Sanctions Compliance Task Force. You can read Sue’s full bio at: https://www.csis.org/people/sue-eckert

‘there’s never been a situation, of which I’m aware, in which an entity like the Taliban…are designated, and have long since been designated, and now are controlling an entire country’ In this episode, Justine is joined by Adam M. Smith, Partner, Gibson Dunn, to talk about the humanitarian situation in Afghanistan, including the implications from the Central Bank funds being frozen, to what extent sanctions in place affect the government, recently introduced Afghanistan General Licenses, and the options available to the international community to ensure the movement of permissible humanitarian funds. Adam is a partner in the Washington, DC office of Gibson Dunn. He is an experienced international lawyer with a focus on international trade compliance and white collar investigations and has previously served as the Senior Advisor to the Director of OFAC and as the Director for Multilateral Affairs on the National Security Council. Adam also recently spoke to the US Senate Committee on Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs Committee at a hearing on ‘Afghanistan’s Future: Assessing the National Security, Humanitarian and Economic Implications of the Taliban Takeover’. You can view the hearing here: https://www.banking.senate.gov/hearings/afghanistans-future-assessing-the-national-security-humanitarian-and-economic-implications-of-the-taliban-takeover Read Adam’s full bio at https://www.gibsondunn.com/lawyer/smith-adam-m/

In this episode, Justine is joined for the second time by Dr. Hans-Jakob Schindler, Senior Director of the Counter Extremism Project, to talk about the ongoing situation in Afghanistan, including the Taliban’s revenue streams (such as the drug trade), the relationship with Al Qaeda and other terrorist groups, and the potential implications for sanctions, foreign investment, and international recognition deliberations. Hans was formerly Coordinator of the ISIL (Da’esh), al-Qaida and Taliban Sanctions Monitoring Team of the United Nations Security Council, where he briefed the members of the Security Council on the global terrorism threat and was responsible for the development of global counter terrorism sanctions. You can read Hans’s full bio at www.linkedin.com/in/hansjakobschindler.

‘we’ve entered a great power competition, that’s not between two blocs… but rather between two very highly integrated economic spheres’ In this episode of the Sanctions Space podcast, Justine sits down with Jonathan Hackenbroich, European Council on Foreign Relations (ECFR), to discuss economic coercion in the geo-political landscape, building resilience to sanctions and countersanctions, and why Nord Stream 2 is like a suitcase without a handle – hard to take along, hard to abandon. Jonathan Hackenbroich is a policy fellow for economic statecraft and the head of ECFR’s Task Force for Protecting Europe from Economic Coercion. His work for ECFR’s European Power programme focuses on economic coercion and geo-economics, especially sanctions policy. He is also an expert on German foreign policy. Read Jonathan’s full bio here: https://ecfr.eu/profile/jonathan_hackenbroich/

‘The use of sanctions has grown incredibly, the complexity of sanctions, the reach of US person globally, the use of secondary sanctions – these are all elements which have just escalated continually over recent years, and that has resulted in some pushback from other jurisdictions’ In this special episode, our two ACAMS podcasts meet - Financial Crime Matters and the Sanctions Space. Justine and Kieran discuss the unprecedented scale and pace of change of sanctions in 2020, key trends we are likely to see in the sanctions space over the coming year, and the Biden administration’s potential approach to key regimes such as China, Iran, and North Korea. Interested to learn more about Sanctions? Join our Global Sanctions Summit next week: https://www.acams.org/en/events/conferences/sanctions-space-summit

‘prepare for some very difficult times ahead, where the world’s number one and number two economies – when it comes to the US and China – will continue to fundamentally disagree on certain issues…. and that will continue to play a role in US sanctions response’ In this episode, Justine is joined by Jennifer Fowler, Director, Brunswick Group, and John Smith, Partner, Morrison and Foerster, to talk about US presidential transition, fighting illicit finance in the FATF, and words of wisdom for the upcoming global sanctions landscape. You can read Jennifer’s bio here: https://www.brunswickgroup.com/jennifer-fowler-i8218/, and John’s bio here: https://www.mofo.com/people/john-smith.html