Global Investigations Summit: Navigating Geopolitical Risk

Sanctions compliance today isn’t merely about avoiding breaches. Speed, use of  technology, advanced analysis and strategic foresight are required to manage risk without impeding global business progress. Organisations need to understand that balancing compliance controls with the business’s long-term strategic vision is crucial to setting a resilient foundation, particularly during periods of disruption and uncertainty. 

During the panel discussion, participants explored how organisations can operate effectively within exemptions frameworks across diverging sanctions regimes and what proactive steps they can take in the face of impending and escalating fragmentation in sanctions policy across the U.K., European Union, U.S. and beyond. Panelists also discussed the role of third-party risk management in the context of sanctions and ways to assess potential exposures that result from relying on outside partners. 

Key discussion points covered:

• Derisking. This is no longer a narrow compliance decision. It’s a balancing act between commercial value, risk appetite and long-term market access. These factors are unique to each company and must be viewed holistically in the context of an organisation’s global footprint, industry, partner and customer ecosystem, employee values and strategic objectives. Companies that view derisking as a business-wide strategy, not a withdrawal from opportunities, will be more resilient.
• Technology in compliance. Technology has become the critical enabler of sanctions compliance and monitoring. From data analytics and transaction monitoring to supporting frameworks such as Digital Operational Resilience Act, robust digital controls now define mature compliance programmes across both financial and non-financial sectors.
• Rapid risk assessment. The current environment demands speed and precision. Real-time, data-driven risk assessment has overtaken the former approach of static reviews. With decisions informed by dynamic intelligence, rather than contracting terms or periodic audits, organisations can more readily adapt to legal and regulatory changes across jurisdictions.
• Third-party oversight. Regulatory agencies expect firms to retain accountability, not outsource it. Strong due diligence, continuous monitoring and data-led visibility into intermediaries are essential to managing exposure across the third-party risk spectrum.

Global sanctions regimes are diverging fast. As geopolitical exposure grows, legal and compliance leaders must manage a widening range of risks and one-size-fits-all compliance will not be sufficient. Organisations need modular frameworks that can adapt to U.K., EU, U.S. and local rules while managing a variety of countermeasures such as litigation, jurisdictional decrees, anti-sanctions laws in certain countries and blocking statutes. Flexible, proactive approaches, backed by expert-led technology solutions, will be key in staying abreast of changes and effectively upholding compliance and business operations in parallel.

The views expressed herein are those of the author(s) and not necessarily the views of FTI Consulting, its management, its subsidiaries, its affiliates, or its other professionals.