Morgan Lewis US and Russia Sanctions Update
CAATSA / Guidances / Lists (cont'd)
Some further CAATSA interpretative / application points
Important issue: whether all any of these tightened and new anti-Russia secondary sanctions may
be imposed against Russian as well as other non-US companies / individuals
by the technical CAATSA wording, yes - though such imposition against "target-country" persons isn't
traditional in US sanctions practice
and the fact of only CAATSA section 226 (amending UFSA section 5) being expressly aimed at "Russian
and other foreign financial institutions" (emphasis added) might be taken as another sign that
otherwise Russian entities/individuals are not intended to be caught - i.e., that they are and can
continue to be more easily targeted by existing/future primary sanctions as SDNS or SSIS
but in fact in 2018
#
a number of Russian companies and individuals have been SDN-designated for cyber-related activities under CAATSA
section 224 (and some Russian companies/ individuals already put on the section 231 LSP List, and others, might be
vulnerable to same)
and Fortuna/KVT designations (per CAATSA sec. 232 and PEESA) in early 2021 - see slide 7
In any event, here again, the mere possibility / threat of such application against otherwise non-
sanctioned or at least non-SDN Russian companies / banks now makes some of them pause before
doing possible sanctions-targeted business with sanctioned or possibly sanctioned Russian
companies (especially with SDNs) under any of the CAATSA provisions
And non-Russian companies / banks certainly have become more cautious about doing any such
business with Russian cos. (whether sanction targets or not) in general... all the more so with the
April 2018 SDN designations (core-economy oligarchs / their companies) and some newer US actions
Morgan Lewis
57View entire presentation