12:00 pm - 1:15 pm

Sanctions Risk in Everyday Legal Practice: Know Your Client and Gatekeeper Responsibilities

Economic sanctions are no longer confined to international trade practices. In today’s global environment, sanctions risks increasingly surface in ordinary legal work—including corporate transactions, real estate matters, financing arrangements, and trust or asset management mandates.

For many lawyers, the issue arises not in advising on sanctions law, but in determining whether they can properly act for a client or proceed with a transaction. Regulators are paying closer attention to the role of lawyers as professional gatekeepers, and failures to conduct appropriate client due diligence can expose both lawyers and their clients to serious legal and regulatory consequences.

Improve your understanding of how sanctions concerns can arise during client intake, due diligence, and file management. Our experts will focus on recognizing potential sanctions exposure, asking the right questions, and making defensible professional judgments when sanctions issues appear in otherwise routine matters.

Build defensible legal judgment by gaining know-how to:

• Recognize situations where sanctions risks may arise in ordinary legal files, including transactions involving foreign parties or assets.
• Apply appropriate Know-Your-Client (KYC) and client due diligence practices to identify potential sanctions concerns.
• Understand the lawyer’s gatekeeper responsibilities and the risks of failing to ask necessary questions,
• Identify when sanctions concerns require further inquiry or specialist advice.
• Document due diligence and professional judgment appropriately to protect both client and counsel

Speakers

Daniel Kiselbach, Miller Thomson (Vancouver, BC)
Andrei Mesesan,  Bennett Jones (Toronto, ON)
Clifford Sosnow, Fasken Martineau DuMoulin LLP (Ottawa, ON)
Hunter Fox,  Gowling WLG (Ottawa, ON)

Moderator:

Erin Brown, Norton Rose Fulbright Canada LLP (Ottawa, ON)