Banks are working hard to try to share the fate of BNP Paribas which in June was fined US$9b for breaking sanctions against Sudan, Iran and Cuba. Brian Dilley, a partner in KPMG, said: ‘AML and sanctions are where the big fines are. Banks have armies of people doing this work and there is a real premium on people who can interpret the rules properly.’ 

Teams growing

Stroz Friedberg says it has increased the size of its Russian advice team by 50 per cent over the last 12 months. A specialist area within this specialism is emerging to check that banks and other businesses are not breaking sanctions. Referring to recent EU and US sanctions against Russia, Steve Ganis, a partner in Mintz Levin, said: ‘Sanctions are a more important part of foreign policy than they have ever been.’ Source: Gulf News