The U.K.'s High Court of Justice in a Nov. 4 judgment adjourned a trial between VTB Commodities Trading and Petraco Oil over the delivery of oil cargo, according to a Nov. 8 post on the EU Sanctions blog. The U.K. sanctioned VTB in February, leading it to submit an application for a license to pay legal fees for the proceeding. The Office of Financial Sanctions Implementation failed to process the application eight months after submission, leading VTB to apply to adjourn the trial that was set for May, given that the company could not make the legal payments. In the meantime, OFSI issued a General License over the provision of legal services under the Russia sanctions regime. The High Court considered the license, then adjourned the trial. The court said the trial should be resolved "in part because of the time required to obtain OFSI licences," ordering VTB to apply to OFSI for a license to cover adverse costs liability in the proceeding and to cover other costs not covered by the General License.

The U.K. released a General License under its Russia and Belarus sanctions regimes pertaining to the provision of legal services, the Office of Financial Sanctions Implementation announced. The license allows for the payment of legal fees by designated individuals and entities to law firms and counsel. The license distinguishes between legal fees issued pre- and post-designation. OFSI imposed a cap of around $574,000, VAT included, on the amount that can be claimed for legal work carried out pre-designation, and an identical cap on overall fees for legal work started post-designation with reporting obligations proving all fees are reasonable.

The EU General Court in an Oct. 26 judgment annulled the sanctions listing of Dmitry Ovsyannikov under the Russia sanctions regime. The European Council said that given his former positions in the Russian government since 2017, Ovsyannikov undermined Ukraine's sovereignty. The General Court said the council could not justify this finding because Ovsyannikov resigned as Sevastopol governor in 2019 and stopped working as a deputy minister in 2020. The EU had to show that his links with the government since these dates justified his designation -- something the bloc failed to do, the court held. However, Ovsyannikov is still sanctioned following a European Council decision in September that was taken up after the hearing in this case.

The Paris Court of Appeals ordered the French government to release an impounded yacht owned by EU-sanctioned Russian billionaire Alexey Kuzmichev due to procedural errors made during the vessel's seizure, according to an unofficial translation. Kuzmichev is one of the main shareholders of Russia's Alfa Bank. French customs seized the yacht, called La Petite Ourse, in March following Kuzmichev's addition to the sanctions list. The yacht was moored in Antibes. The French court said the customs agents did not follow correct procedure when searching the vessel, incorrectly relying on an authority that permitted a search in connection with suspected fraud.

The EU released updated guidance on the provision of business services under its Russia sanctions regime, adding an overview table of the EU restrictions on services. The European Commission added five questions to its FAQs about business services, covering how the sectoral scope for IT consultancy services is defined, whether the measures on IT consultancy services hamper the conditions of civil society organization in Russia, which software updates are exempted from the ban on IT consultancy services, what activities are covered on the architectural and engineering services ban and what activities are covered by the ban on legal advisory services.

The World Uyghur Congress and the Global Legal Action Network launched a case at the High Court in London accusing U.K. government agencies of breaking the law by not investigating the importation of cotton products made by forced labor in China's Xinjiang region. The court heard a trial on Oct. 25 in which the WUC challenged the British home secretary, HM Revenue and Customs and the National Crime Agency for refusing to investigate goods allegedly made by forced labor of the Uyghur Muslim minority in the region, The Guardian reported.

Law firm Mayer Brown will enter into a joint law venture with Singapore firm PK Wong & Nair following approval from the Singapore Legal Services Regulatory Authority, Mayer Brown announced. The joint venture, dubbed the Mayer Brown PK Wong & Nair Pte. Ltd., will offer advising services on international and Singapore law with all Singapore court litigation provided via PK Wong & Nair, the firm said. Mayer Brown opened a Singapore office in 2011, growing the outlet to over 25 lawyers.

Up to 11 former employees of Swiss global commodity trading and mining company Glencore could be investigated in the U.K. under charges of bribery in five African countries, Alexandra Healy, an attorney for the U.K.'s Serious Fraud Office (SFO), said Oct. 24 in a London court, Bloomberg reported. The alleged scheme involved more than $28 million in bribes, though the SFO didn't say if all 11 were being investigated for bribery. Glencoe told Bloomberg the 11 are former employees. Healy said the SFO will make individual charging decisions likely by the end of April. In DOJ's parallel investigation, two former Glencore traders, Anthony Stimler and Emilio Heredia, pleaded guilty, Bloomberg said. The SFO announced in May that Glencore was expected to pay around $1.5 billion to settle investigations into bribery and price manipulation charges revolving around deals in the U.S., U.K. and Brazil.

The U.K. implemented a General License Oct. 17 permitting individuals and entities designated under the Belarus and Russia sanctions regimes and companies owned or controlled by these sanctioned parties to pay funds to the London Court of International Arbitration to cover arbitration costs. The license also permits the LCIA to use funds deposited by sanctioned parties, companies owned or controlled by sanctioned parties or their legal representatives before their listing. The license "is of indefinite duration."

Singapore State courts sentenced Muhammad Rifa'ie Bin Mazlan Oct. 11 to 26 months in prison for conspiring to sell cigarettes for which duties had not been paid, Singapore Customs announced. A Singaporean national, Rifa'ie will also serve one month and 18 days in prison for possessing and using property "reasonably suspected" to be obtained from criminal conduct. He pleaded guilty to one charge under the Customs Act and two counts of violating Section 47AA of the Corruption, Drug Trafficking and Other Serious Crimes Act.