Over the past two decades, the use of economic and financial sanctions has exploded both in volume, as well as in the number of countries utilizing sanctions to disrupt and deter activities that would undermine sovereign national security. This burgeoning use of sanctions has amplified the need for every organization engaging in cross-border transactions or investments to have effective global trade and sanctions risk mitigation and management strategies in place. StoneTurn’s global trade experts help clients develop, implement and maintain robust and sustainable solutions to sanctions risk management challenges.

StoneTurn Helps Navigate Sanctions Complexities

Our sanctions and trade compliance experts regularly advise clients on the risks presented by international transactions, including those posed by their customer and partner networks, merger and acquisition activity, and supply chains. We provide the requisite intelligence, insight and advice to effectively detect and mitigate sanctions risks before they become reputational, financial, or regulatory challenges. In addition, StoneTurn is constantly monitoring the ever-evolving sanctions regulatory landscape and parallel technological advancements, allowing us to stay up to date with the strategies and schemes of those who wish to evade sanctions using digital currencies, alternative payment systems, and other efforts to conceal cross-border transactions which jeopardize our clients and national security.

Mitigating Risk

From a programmatic perspective, StoneTurn advises clients on the development and implementation of risk-based strategies to accurately assess global trade risks, including devising and conducting risk assessments that consider the business’ jurisdictional exposure, products and services, and business partner, vendor, and client networks. In addition, we evaluate and make recommendations for improving existing sanctions compliance and export controls programs through sophisticated gap analyses and testing, and validating internal sanctions and trade controls. StoneTurn’s sanctions advisors include former intelligence and regulatory officials who have decades of experience working with clients to build resiliency into their sanctions and export controls risk mitigation programs. Our team works as a trusted business adviser to clients by anticipating changes in the regulatory and geopolitical landscape in advance of a crisis and making recommendations on proactive action.

Business Intelligence & Investigations

On behalf of clients engaging in cross-border transactions, StoneTurn’s business intelligence experts strategically located around the world, assist clients with avoiding the inherent risks in export transactions. Our team is adept at identifying beneficial owners, understanding offshore entities, and determining the ultimate purchasers and consumers of clients’ products through enhanced public records research and nuanced source enquiries utilizing local language, on-the-ground intelligence resources. Companies dealing with large volumes of customers or other third-parties related to a merger or acquisition target or in the context of a remediation are currently dealing with countless potential risks. We help these organizations understand and address the risks presented by these populations through the use of automated screening technologies and manual analyses of red-flags and anomalies.

Should adverse information be identified, StoneTurn’s global investigations team, working with our export controls, data analytics and digital forensics professionals assist clients and their counsel to undertake or support effective internal investigations and audits. In the instance of a listing by a sanction authority, we provide material assistance with understanding the rationale for the listing and, as appropriate, develop and implement a delisting strategy in connection with counsel and other advisors.

Lastly, on an ongoing basis, StoneTurn can support client’s sanctions and export controls programs by monitoring third-party relationships for continuous compliance with changing sanctions regimes and lists.

We understand how to navigate the complexities of various economic sanctions regimes, what the regulators are looking for, and how to meet their expectations.

Our sanctions and export controls experts are experienced with a number of different and frequently competing sanctions and global trade regulatory regimes, including: Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC), U.S. Treasury; Office of Financial Sanctions Implementation (OFSI); U.K. HM Treasury; European Union; Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe; U.N. Security Council; and numerous other sovereign sanctions and global trade regulators.