On 7 April, the EU Sanctions blog reported on a decision of the Eastern Caribbean Supreme Court sitting in the BVI refused an application by Ogier to come off the record for VTB. Ogier had set forth its reasons saying that it was “against Ogier’s ethics and code of practice to act for a company so closely associated with the Russian state in the circumstances” and that it could not act “ in any meaningful way act or represent VTB without the risk of Ogier and people who work for Ogier being in breach of the sanctions regime”. The firm argued that recent guidance from Jersey (being subject to the same sanctions) states that the circumstances provided ‘just cause’ for the termination of a retainer with a sanctioned entity.
https://www.eccourts.org/jsc-vtb-bank-v-alexander-katunin-4/