After non -compliance with sanctions determined by the US, foreign banks have already been fined by the US government by more than $ 10 billion. Punishments were mostly justified by the violation of American embargoes to countries such as Iran, Cuba or Sudan, which differ from the expected consequences of the individual application of the magnitsky law to Minister Alexandre de Moraes.
The possibility of retaliation, however, has worried businessmen from the Brazilian financial sector, after Minister Flávio Dino of the Federal Supreme Court (STF) determined that foreign executive or judicial orders will not have automatic effect in Brazil.
In 2019, the English Bank Standard Chartered (SCB) signed an agreement in the US courts to pay more than $ 1.1 billion for violation of economic sanctions applied by OFAC (Foreign Asset Control Office) against mostly sanctioned countries for violations of human rights, political instability, and links to extremist groups.
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In the process, the US government claimed that from June 2009 to May 2014, the financial entity was responsible for more than 9,000 transactions, which added to $ 437 million from Myanmar, Cuba, Iran, Sudan and Syria.
The values, according to US authorities, were moved by customers linked to Iranian commerce and oil companies, from a bank branch in Dubai or through online banking tools accessed by residents of sanctioned countries. The transactions, however, were processed by the SCB office in New York, which lit a warning from the US government.
The bank has also been the target of an accusation of non -compliance with sanctions applied to Zimbabwe, because, according to the US government, the financial entity was responsible, between May 2009 and July 2013, by transactions made by entities or individuals registered as specially designated citizens and blocked people (SDNs).
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The listing is maintained by the American Treasury and recently had Minister Moraes included, due to the application of the Magnisky Law. In March, Zimbabwe President Emmerson Mnanagagua was accused by the Trump government of corruption and became the same type of sanction applied to the Brazilian magistrate last month.
In addition to the SCB, the French bank BNP Paribas was also retaliated after the non -compliance with economic embargoes established by the US. In 2014, the financial institution was fined US $ 8.9 billion for violation of sanctions against Iran, Cuba and Sudan, accused having intermediated more than $ 8.8 billion in transactions from these countries and processed by the US financial system, of which $ 4.3 billion would have come from expressly prohibited entities.
The bank was also accused of falsifying arguments and hiding information from US authorities. At the end of the process, in addition to paying the fine, BNP Paribas fired 13 employees, including the head of financial operations and other executives.
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Concerns of Brazilian financial entities
The chances of retaliation in case of non -compliance, mainly related to determined restrictions against Minister Moraes, has worried the dome directors of Brazilian financial institutions. The fear grew yesterday, after Minister Dino determines that foreign executive and judicial orders have no automatic application in the country, as showed by Globo Malu Gaspar columnist.
“Let’s suppose new sanctions come. If the Supreme Court authorizes, ok, we are even with Brazil and abroad. But if the Supreme Court says, don’t do, what will happen?” Asked one executive heard. “A bank that breaks up the OFAC sanctions can’t survive,” he added.
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In response, companies began to discuss any consequences of the new scenario and strategies to deal with them. Solutions may include a request for the Supreme Specify how the new system will take place and how concrete will be treated, such as those linked to drug traffickers and terrorists.
