Corporate Counsel Quotes Wynn Segall on Navigating Latest Trade Sanctions

Wynn Segall, a partner in the international trade practice at Akin Gump, was quoted in the Corporate Counsel article “Companies’ Calls Growing More Urgent on How to Navigate Latest Trade Sanctions,” which looks at how corporations are coping with new sanctions put in place against Iran. The article reports that, in addition to new sanctions by the United States, the European Union’s updated blocking statute has gone into effect, forbidding companies doing business in affected EU states from obeying the U.S. sanctions.

Segall said the blocking statute has created a legal landscape filled with conflict of law issues for U.S. companies with EU subsidiaries. “It is an open question in what way different EU states will implement and enforce those blocking statutes,” he said. “It is a field of uncertainty.”

Segall advises companies to approach the issue as a compliance risk, and to analyze the situation like any other business risk. The EU allows a company to make a business decision not to do business somewhere if the risk outweighs the business interests. He added, though, that “the way in which a company’s decision is made is very important to navigate safely between the U.S. sanctions and the blocking statutes so as not to incur liability.”

“It’s sort of like one of those trick water fountains that is set up like a chessboard,” Segall explained. “If you step on the wrong square, you get very, very wet. You need to be well-informed and guided.”