Canadian Lawyer InHouse

21 canadianlawyermag.com/inhouse April 2015 measures mean and having the proper com- pliance measures to deal with them," says Boscariol. "Often we find that when a Ca- nadian company first learns that they may have a sanctions issue, they are learning it from their bank because the bank is stopping a payment, or the bank realizes the payment involves a blacklisted entity or involves finan- cial services being provided." Just as Canada's sanctions are subtly dif- ferent to those introduced in Europe or the United States, Canada's approach to viola- tions is different too, making it hard to com- pare enforcement in the two countries. Lawyers note that Canada does not pub- licize administrative penalties it imposes on companies that breach sanctions, whether by accident or by design, while the United States traditionally publicizes any breach, as well as offering different rules on whistleblowers and voluntary disclosure. But they highlight the case of Lee Specialties, an Alberta com- pany that mistakenly sent 30-cent O rings to Iran, as evidence that the Canadian enforce- ment authorities are starting to crack down. Lee, which said the shipment happened because of a mailroom mix-up, was fined $90,000 last April. "That was a very expensive 'oops,'" says DeRose, who says the firm understands that the number of investigations by the Canada Border Services Agency has increased quite dramatically over the last couple of years. "I'm not aware of any Russian cases, but it does not mean they are not being investi- gated. Normally they would not become pub- lic until charges are laid," he says. "We are now nine months into the sanctions existing and it is not surprising to me that there have been no formal charges. These types of in- vestigation tend to occur over a long period of time. It doesn't mean that there have not been investigations or that companies have not worked with the Canadian government to voluntarily disclose inadvertent breaches. Where voluntary disclosure occurs, those are not published." Drager also notes there's less publicity about enforcement in Canada than in the United States, but he says Canada has been "quite assiduous" in being able to enforce its anti-sanctions laws, using both the Ca- nadian Border Services Agency and export controls. "I'm not making any comment on whether that's occurred or not occurred, but we've certainly seen in other cases with sanctions and have been involved in other cases with sanctions that the CBSA can enforce it quite diligently," he says. "And it doesn't need the press." As for companies like Bombardier, it's a question of waiting to see what governments come up with next, lobbying and making rep- resentations to try to prevent the worst, and hoping that the changes everyone expects won't be too painful. "Generally the corporate world is on the sidelines," says Desjardins. "It is a state-to- state discussion and national policy, and you may want to comment on it and try to influ- ence it, but at the end of the day you have to comply with it, whether you like it or not. "Like any global corporation, we like a lev- el playing field, we like open markets where we can do business. It's good for our country and it's good for our employees in Canada. But if there's a case where we cannot do busi- ness in a country, we will respect that." LEXPERT.ca is the online destination for authoritative information about Canada's business of law. INTRODUCING THE NEW AND ENHANCED Bookmark the new LEXPERT.ca for updates on Big Deals/Suits, People Moves and articles of interest appearing in Lexpert ® Magazine. Find information about Canada's leading Lexpert-ranked lawyers and law firms through the site's enhanced navigation and search functionality. Visit LEXPERT.ca Untitled-1 1 2015-01-20 1:38 PM

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