GIR Quotes Jasper Helder, Chiara Klaui on Dutch Sanctions Crackdown

Global Investigations Review has quoted Akin Gump international trade partners Jasper Helder and Chiara Klaui for its article “The looming threat of Dutch sanctions enforcement,” on a perceived increase in pursuit and punishment by the Netherlands authorities of trade law violators.

Klaui, a Netherlands-qualified partner, said that clients are “afraid” of the possibility of reputational damage caused by a public penalty or court case.

The article discusses “Team Poss,” whose name stands for “precursors, origin, strategic goods and sanctions legislation,” an agency within the country’s customs authority described as a major player behind the Netherlands’ increased enforcement actions.

On the topic, Klaui said, “Previously Team Poss wanted to educate companies to change how they behave in the future. Now, if they discover violations they won’t try to educate you—they’re more focused on punishment.” Discussing self-reporting by clients to the authorities, she added, “Traditionally it has been beneficial to self-report because [Team Poss] would generally close out the matter with a warning letter—it was an easy judgement call to make. In recent years it has not been that easy to get a warning letter and we get a lot more questions from clients about whether we should self-disclose.”

Regarding self-disclosure, Helder, himself also Netherlands-qualified, said, “It’s fair to say that if you have a client and you submit a voluntary self-disclosure, the review of that and the follow up with Team Poss is very important.”

Discussing Netherland financial authorities’ increased interest in sanctions compliance in reviewing financial institutions’ internal controls, he noted, “What we have seen over the last year is that in almost every audit there are recommendations on sanctions compliance, screening and often in combination with AML [anti-money laundering] and KYC [know your customer] measures. It’s something they have on the radar.”