February 4, 2019
The Ministers of Foreign Affairs of France, Germany and United Kingdom have announced the incorporation of the Special Purpose Vehicle “SPV”, the entity intended for channeling the payment flows between EU/Iran – through a barter like mechanism – with the purpose of saving the related import/export operations from the application of U.S. secondary sanctions.
The entity INSTEX SAS (“Instrument for Supporting Trade Exchanges”) is based in Paris and the Presidency will be German. Further operational details, apart from the fact the SPV will focus initially on the pharmaceutical, medical devices and agri-food goods sectors, are not available.
The expectations of operators active in other sectors could be unfulfilled should the SPV focus be not extended. Indeed, none of the aforementioned economic sectors is actually targeted by U.S. secondary sanctions; therefore, the related transactions can be effectively carried out through traditional channels (provided that the Iranian banks involved in transactions are not SDN subject to secondary sanctions).
However, it shall be emphasized that – should the SPV focus be extended – the European Union would have to implement proper means to counter the extraterritorial effects of U.S. legislation; it must be underlined indeed that – as outlined by us on several occasions – Regulation No. 2271/96 (the so called “Blocking Regulation”) does not currently provide any substantial protection. In the absence of any real action taken by the European Union, European companies would most certainly be an easy target for U.S. authorities.
Further operational details as well as the procedures for acceding to the SPV will be gradually defined in the coming weeks, through meetings involving also Italy.
AUTHOR: Marco PADOVAN – mpadovan@studiopadovan.com
Marco Padovan is considered an expert in Italy and abroad on international economic sanctions and dual-use goods. Moreover, he practices corporate law, M&A and banking & finance as well as he represents clients in court and arbitral proceedings. He specializes in international works agreements and major domestic and foreign infrastructure projects, advising some of the largest Italian and foreign general contractors and the most renowned plant engineers.
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