Melissa Schwartz and Wynn Segall Speak with Corporate Counsel on Advice for GCs Navigating a Challenging Sanctions Environment

Akin Gump cross-border transactions partner Melissa Schwartz and international trade partner Wynn Segall were interviewed for the Corporate Counsel article “Sanctions Are Pouring: Here’s Advice for General Counsel on Where to Hold the Umbrella.” This Q&A examines what general counsel need to know in light of new economic sanctions on other countries, foreign companies and individuals.

Segall began by discussing how the sanctions landscape has changed over the years. He pointed out that, while the use of sanctions dates back to before World War II, it became a more active area of the law in the 1980s during the Regan administration. Since then, he said, “different administrations, both Democrat and Republican, have increasingly favored using sanctions.”

With the use of sanctions on the rise, Schwartz said general counsel should be aware of, what she described as, “a divergence between U.S. sanctions policy and that of our European allies” with less coordination than previously.

Segall spoke of the steps GCs should take upon learning of a new sanction regime, including sending out a communication to their business “alerting the executives and key compliance people that something has occurred and they need to essentially hold still until the company can understand what the new action means to them.” Schwartz added that it is important “to be able to reach out in the organization and communicate” quickly and effectively.

Some final advice from Schwartz included making sure that sanctions are on every general counsel’s checklist of questions “when looking at mergers and acquisitions, supply chains, investment decisions, financing and everyday compliance.” Segall agreed, by noting that sanctions need to be considered “at the beginning of a transaction.”