Sanctions Fundamentals and Legal Framework
The building blocks
Sanctions are coercive measures - asset freezes, transaction bans, sectoral restrictions, arms embargoes - imposed by states or the UN Security Council to change behaviour or constrain capability. Learn to separate four axes: comprehensive vs. targeted (country-wide embargo vs. named designees); blocking vs. sectoral (a blocked person's property and interests in property are frozen and all dealings are prohibited, whereas a sectoral designation imposes only what the applicable directive states); primary vs. secondary (primary measures bind persons and activity within the issuing jurisdiction; secondary measures threaten consequences for non-jurisdictional persons for specified conduct elsewhere); and asset freeze vs. import/export ban.
Legal architecture
United States: IEEPA and TWEA/NEA supply the emergency powers, supplemented by topic statutes such as CAATSA and Magnitsky Acts. Executive orders designate; the Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) implements through 31 CFR Chapter V, notably Part 501 (licensing, reporting, penalties, recordkeeping). United Nations: Charter Article 41 measures adopted by Security Council resolution, implemented by member states. European Union: a CFSP Decision plus a directly applicable Council Regulation. United Kingdom: OFSI under the Sanctions and Anti-Money Laundering Act.
Jurisdictional hooks
US jurisdiction reaches US persons (citizens, lawful residents, entities organised in the US and their foreign branches), goods of US origin wherever located, transactions clearing through US dollars, and anything with a sufficient US nexus. Traps: civil liability is strict - knowledge is not required; causing a violation and facilitation by a US person are themselves prohibited; a general licence is self-executing while a specific licence is limited, revocable and party-specific.
Worked example - the 50 percent rule
Two blocked persons each own 25 percent of Company X, which is not on the SDN List. X is nonetheless blocked: ownership is aggregated, and indirect ownership through intermediaries counts. Screen ownership chains, not just list hits.