Economic Sanctions and Cross-Border Regulatory

The Economic Sanctions and Cross-Border Regulatory practice is particularly focused on matters involving the U.S. Department of the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) and regularly supports clients facing heightened regulatory scrutiny in fast-moving and high-risk environments.

The firm represents domestic and international financial institutions, shipping and transportation companies, investment managers, insurers, and other operating companies on sanctions compliance, enforcement matters, licensing, internal investigations and regulatory strategy. The team is frequently engaged in matters that never become public, helping clients address potential criminal or civil exposure and navigate regulatory expectations before issues escalate.

Seward & Kissel is regularly called upon to advise on significant cross-border investigations and enforcement matters involving US and non-US regulators. The practice has represented clients in matters arising from major government investigations and market events, including sanctions-related enforcement actions, antitrust and market manipulation investigations, and matters involving alleged violations of the Bank Secrecy Act, the Trading with the Enemy Act, and other federal statutes. The team’s experience spans parallel proceedings across multiple jurisdictions and coordinated engagement with US, UK, EU, and other foreign authorities.

The practice is anchored by lawyers with deep regulatory and enforcement experience, including those with prior roles at the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA), Department of Justice (DOJ), and the New York Attorney General’s Office (NYAG). This background informs a practical and coordinated approach to advising clients facing overlapping regulatory, litigation, and commercial considerations.

Seward & Kissel’s experience in this area includes advising on:

• Regulatory enforcement actions and internal investigations
• Sanctions licensing, reporting, and de-listing applications
• Compliance programs, including internal controls, policies, and procedures
• Due diligence in connection with financings, investments, and commercial transactions
• Contractual protections in large-scale business and financing arrangements

The firm’s work involving OFAC sanctions, US export controls, and US anti-boycott laws includes matters relating to:

• Sanctioned jurisdictions, including Iran, Venezuela, North Korea, Russia and Ukraine, and Cuba
• Shipping, transportation, and superyacht operations
• Investment management, banking, insurance, and international trade
• Large-scale financial transactions and sanctions-related representations and warranties in mergers and acquisitions, credit facilities, and other complex transactions
• Counterparty and beneficial ownership due diligence, including sanctions screening and enhanced diligence processes
• Assessment of US jurisdictional nexus and related risk for European and other non-US companies doing business in the United States
• International investment and counterparty reviews in various jurisdictions, including the UK, Europe, Hong Kong, Singapore, and China.
• Secondary market trading of government and other restricted securities
• Vessels calling on ports in sanctioned jurisdictions or trading in potentially sanctioned cargo
• Sanctions and anti-money laundering risks associated with cryptocurrency, digital assets, and blockchain-based systems