Island has decision to make on sanctions
GUERNSEY will have to decide whether it follows the UK or EU sanctions regime – or a combination of the two, according to a legal expert.
International barrister and sanctions specialist Maya Lester made the comments at a breakfast seminar about sanctions organised by law firm Collas Crill.
‘Sanctions are increasingly complex and fast-moving, with often multiple overlapping and sometimes contradictory regimes and regulators,’ she said.
‘The recent divergence of US and EU sanctions on Russia and Iran, including US secondary sanctions and the EU Blocking Regulation, is just one example of the tremendous impact on business risk.’
The legal expert added: ‘For Guernsey, there is likely to be a significant change as we get closer to Brexit day, with political consideration and decision-making needing to focus on whether Guernsey will follow the UK or the EU sanctions regimes, or a hybrid of both.’
The recent EU sanction and the new Guernsey Ordinance against those involved in chemical weapons has also fuelled the debate over whether Guernsey will follow UK or EU sanctions regimes post-Brexit.
Nin Ritchie, senior associate in the Collas Crill Risk and Regulatory team, said: ‘This is a classic example of the EU deploying its powers to target those involved in chemical weapon atrocities. It is the EU showing that those behaviours cannot be tolerated and must not be supported.
Guernsey’s implementation of this latest EU sanction demonstrates that, like the UK, Guernsey will continue to follow the EU’s sanctions regime up until Brexit Day.’
