Last updated 11 October 2022
Note: the various pages Ireland ,UK ,European Union and international have been updated with relevant news items since the above date .See in particular first paragraph on each of these pages.
The following articles relating to the Ukraine situation may be of interest to members.
Readers may find interesting an article which appeared in the Sunday Independent on Sept 4Th 2022 in relation to sanctions derogations. Click the link to access the article if you have a subscription to the Irish/Sunday Independent. Central Bank allowed Russian state firm GTLK a break from sanctions to pay millions of euro in wages, rent and legal fees - Independent.ie . The article is instructive on derogations. According to the article which accessed the information through a freedom of information request, the Irish Central Bank has granted some derogations as has the Irish Dept of Enterprise Trade and Employment.
The article is Copyright Mediahuis Ireland. Reproduced by kind permission of the Sunday Independent.
Please also see another article of interest from the Sunday Independent on 14 August 2022.The article reports on the grant by the Department of Foreign Affairs, one of the Irish competent authorities for the enforcement of sanctions ,of a number of derogations in respect of legal representation of sanctioned individuals. Click the link to access the article if you have a subscription to the Irish/Sunday Independent.
Copyright Mediahuis Ireland. Reproduced by kind permission of the Sunday Independent.
Please click here to read an RTE news report of an August 2022 High court case on a sanctions dispute over ships in which the Irish central bank is also a defendant. Judgment has now been given in that case; see the recent High Court judgment (August 2022) of Sanfey J in the case of Pola Logistics Limited as plaintiff and GTLK Europe DAC, GTLK Malta Four Limited and Central Bank of Ireland (CBI) as defendants. The judgment is available free of charge from the Irish courts service website and see some further information on the case under the "Irish Central Bank " heading on our "Ireland " sanctions page.
In the UK the Office of Financial Sanctions Implementation (OFSI), part of HM treasury, sets out in a webinar new reporting obligations for Cryptoasset businesses that need to comply with UK sanctions.
A recent UK High court case saw minority shareholders of London-listed gold producer Petropavlovsk failing to persuade an English judge to adjourn its sale to a Russian metals’ producer, days after he allowed the transaction to go ahead in the wake of UK and EU sanctions. See in particular the Appendix to the judgment which considers the application of the relevant sanctions’ legislation to the present case, the relevant UK sanctions legislation and the relevant EU sanctions regime.
The Ukraine crisis: Ethical considerations for accountants and ethical considerations for accountants working overseas written by the Chartered Accountants Ireland Head of Ethics and Governance, Niall Fitzgerald.
EU agrees to exclude key Russian banks from SWIFT
How sanctions are put into practice by Irish firms (rte.ie) provides a simple guide on how sanctions work.
EU and UK Sanctions against Russia: a focus on the Financial Sector
Ukraine invasion has made a fast, decisive union out of slow, bureaucratic EU - Originally posted on Business Post 06 March 2022.Dr Brian Keegan Director of Public Policy at Chartered Accountants Ireland
Financial Reporting implications of the war in Ukraine under FRS 102 is an article prepared by Chartered Accountants Ireland outlining some of the key financial reporting issues that preparers may face relating to the war.
On March 24 the EU Commissioner for Financial Services spoke to Ukrainian Finance Minister on sanctions and EU support for Ukrainian war effort. Click here for the press release.
“Shaping Europe’s financial future” Mairead McGuinness, EU Commissioner for Financial Services, Financial Stability and Capital Markets Union, talks to Elaine O’Regan in Accountancy Ireland April 2022 including about her role in implementing sanctions to stop the “Kremlin war machine”
Press statement dated 27 April 2022 by President von der Leyen following the announcement by Gazprom on the disruption of gas deliveries to certain EU Member States.
Mapping the wartime economy - ..rteredaccountants.ie (charteredaccountants.ie)
What Russia’s invasion of Ukraine means for neutrality in Europe - ..rteredaccountants.ie (charteredaccountants.ie)
From the Accountancy and Consulting/Risk /Other Firms
KPMG :Ukraine-Russia conflict – What are the implications for fair value measurement?
fscom ,a specialist consulting firm providing governance, risk and compliance solutions has produced useful information on its website on how firms should respond to sanctions which you can read here.
See here an article by Marsh Mc Lennan entitled "Russia-Ukraine conflict: Long-term risks emerging" published in August 2022.
See also the linked article from Lloyds list maritime intelligence data which reports the limited impact of sanctions on Russia’s outbound sailings, and the decimation of Ukrainian trade .It reports that Russia’s outbound seaborne trade remains stable despite successive waves of sanctions levelled against Moscow by the European Union, US and UK. Russia’s international seaborne trade has adapted quickly to the sanctions regime, finding alternative trading partners.
From the Law Firms
Many law firms have pages dedicated to the Ukraine crisis and sanctions.
Mayer Brown has a webpage which includes EU, UK and US sanctions updates
Field Fisher: If you click here, you can go to Field Fisher webpages for new UK, EU and US Sanctions on Russia and Belarus updates. They also have a sanctions summary, and you can request a download of their overview of new UK, EU and US Sanctions on Russia and Belarus.
Clyde & Co: click here to go to Clyde & Co insights webpages which contain articles on UK ,EU and US sanctions on Russia.
Herbert Smith Freehills issue a periodic sanctions tracker update which focus on sanction measures against Russia from the UK the EU and the US. Please also click to access their Sanctions Podcast EP 6.
Eversheds Sutherland have a webpage Keeping you up to speed: Russian and Belarusian sanctions updates
Arthur Cox, solicitors :click the links for an article on Sixth Package of EU Sanctions against Russia and Belarus and an earlier article on EU sanctions against Russia and potential implications for Irish pension schemes
Linklaters has a webpage which you can access to get periodic updates .Click the link for update No.3 Responses to the Russia/Ukraine Crisis – Sanctions Update No.3 here for the link to Update No 4 of August 2022 and here for a brochure entitled six months on -changes to international business since Russia's invasion of Ukraine.
Reed Smith has an article which you can read here on EU sixth package of sanctions against Russia -oil and insurance embargoes and White & Case article on the same subject can be accessed here
See Philip Lee LLP webpage Overview of sanctions on Russia.
Please follow this link to see a detailed and comprehensive review by Shearman &Sterling LLP law firm of US,UK ,EU sanctions (and Russia counter sanction measures) as of 10 August 2022.Please also click here for Shearman & Sterling LLP second quarter round up and memo on sanctions.
Steptoe & Johnson LLP recently issued a blog on the UK announcements on further sanctions against Russia which include a proposed ban in relation to auditing services.
Some tips to support your staff during a crisis
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