๐ฆ๐๐ก๐๐ง๐๐ข๐ก๐ฆ ๐จ๐ฃ๐๐๐ง๐ – ๐๐๐ฟ๐ผ๐ฝ๐ฒ๐ฎ๐ป ๐จ๐ป๐ถ๐ผ๐ป – Delivered on 12/03/2026 by the Court of Justice of the European Union, case law provides significant clarification on how EU asset-freezing measures operate in practice.
๐๐จ ๐๐ฎ๐ป๐ฐ๐๐ถ๐ผ๐ป๐ ๐ฎ๐ฟ๐ฒ ๐ฑ๐ฒ๐๐ถ๐ด๐ป๐ฒ๐ฑ ๐๐ผ ๐ฎ๐ฝ๐ฝ๐น๐ ๐ฏ๐ฟ๐ผ๐ฎ๐ฑ๐น๐ ๐ฎ๐ป๐ฑ ๐๐ผ ๐ฝ๐ฟ๐ฒ๐๐ฒ๐ป๐ ๐๐ฎ๐ป๐ฐ๐๐ถ๐ผ๐ป๐ฒ๐ฑ ๐ฝ๐ฒ๐ฟ๐๐ผ๐ป๐ ๐ณ๐ฟ๐ผ๐บ ๐ฎ๐ฐ๐ฐ๐ฒ๐๐๐ถ๐ป๐ด ๐ผ๐ฟ ๐ถ๐ป๐ณ๐น๐๐ฒ๐ป๐ฐ๐ถ๐ป๐ด ๐ฎ๐๐๐ฒ๐๐ ๐๐ต๐ฟ๐ผ๐๐ด๐ต ๐ถ๐ป๐ฑ๐ถ๐ฟ๐ฒ๐ฐ๐ ๐๐๐ฟ๐๐ฐ๐๐๐ฟ๐ฒ๐.
The first judgment, ๐๐ ๐๐ฎ๐จ๐ฉ๐๐ข (๐พ๐๐จ๐ ๐พโ๐ด๐ฐ/๐ฎ๐ฐ), ๐ฐ๐ผ๐ป๐ณ๐ถ๐ฟ๐บ๐ ๐๐ต๐ฎ๐ ๐ฎ ๐ฐ๐ผ๐บ๐ฝ๐ฎ๐ป๐ ๐ฑ๐ผ๐ฒ๐ ๐ป๐ผ๐ ๐ป๐ฒ๐ฒ๐ฑ ๐๐ผ ๐ฎ๐ฝ๐ฝ๐ฒ๐ฎ๐ฟ ๐ผ๐ป ๐ฎ ๐๐ฎ๐ป๐ฐ๐๐ถ๐ผ๐ป๐ ๐น๐ถ๐๐ ๐ณ๐ผ๐ฟ ๐ถ๐๐ ๐ฎ๐๐๐ฒ๐๐ ๐๐ผ ๐ฏ๐ฒ ๐ณ๐ฟ๐ผ๐๐ฒ๐ป. If a sanctioned individual owns, holds or controls the companyโs funds or economic resources, those assets may also fall within the scope of EU sanctions.
In particular, the Court held that ๐๐ต๐ฒ๐ฟ๐ฒ ๐ฎ ๐๐ฎ๐ป๐ฐ๐๐ถ๐ผ๐ป๐ฒ๐ฑ ๐ฝ๐ฒ๐ฟ๐๐ผ๐ป ๐ต๐ผ๐น๐ฑ๐ ๐ฑ๐ฌ% ๐ผ๐ณ ๐๐ต๐ฒ ๐๐ต๐ฎ๐ฟ๐ฒ๐ ๐ถ๐ป ๐ฎ ๐ฐ๐ผ๐บ๐ฝ๐ฎ๐ป๐, there is a presumption that the person controls the company and its assets.
In practical terms, this means financial institutions and other market participants may treat such a company as subject to asset-freezing measures without needing to carry out a detailed investigation into its internal governance.
The Court also made clear that the concepts of ownership and control must be interpreted broadly. Corporate structures, subsidiaries or intermediary vehicles will not necessarily shield assets from sanctions exposure where a sanctioned individual can exercise influence over them. Importantly, this presumption of control can be challenged.
The second judgment, ๐๐ฝ๐ ๐ผ๐ง๐ฉ (๐พ๐๐จ๐ ๐พ-๐ฐ๐ฒ๐ฑ/๐ฎ๐ฐ), addresses the consequences of sanctions for corporate governance rights.
The Court ruled that where financial instruments such as ๐๐ต๐ฎ๐ฟ๐ฒ๐ ๐ผ๐ฟ ๐ฑ๐ฒ๐ฝ๐ผ๐๐ถ๐๐ฎ๐ฟ๐ ๐ฟ๐ฒ๐ฐ๐ฒ๐ถ๐ฝ๐๐ ๐ฎ๐ฟ๐ฒ ๐๐๐ฏ๐ท๐ฒ๐ฐ๐ ๐๐ผ ๐ฎ๐๐๐ฒ๐-๐ณ๐ฟ๐ฒ๐ฒ๐๐ถ๐ป๐ด ๐บ๐ฒ๐ฎ๐๐๐ฟ๐ฒ๐, ๐๐ต๐ฒ ๐ต๐ผ๐น๐ฑ๐ฒ๐ฟ ๐ฐ๐ฎ๐ป๐ป๐ผ๐ ๐ฎ๐๐๐ฒ๐ป๐ฑ ๐ผ๐ฟ ๐๐ผ๐๐ฒ ๐ฎ๐ ๐๐ต๐ฎ๐ฟ๐ฒ๐ต๐ผ๐น๐ฑ๐ฒ๐ฟ ๐บ๐ฒ๐ฒ๐๐ถ๐ป๐ด๐ ๐ฐ๐ผ๐ป๐ป๐ฒ๐ฐ๐๐ฒ๐ฑ ๐๐ผ ๐๐ต๐ผ๐๐ฒ ๐ถ๐ป๐๐๐ฟ๐๐บ๐ฒ๐ป๐๐. According to the Court, ๐๐ฒ๐ฐ๐๐ฟ๐ถ๐๐ถ๐ฒ๐ ๐ฎ๐ป๐ฑ ๐๐ถ๐บ๐ถ๐น๐ฎ๐ฟ ๐ถ๐ป๐๐๐ฟ๐๐บ๐ฒ๐ป๐๐ ๐พ๐๐ฎ๐น๐ถ๐ณ๐ ๐ฎ๐ โ๐ณ๐๐ป๐ฑ๐โ ๐๐ป๐ฑ๐ฒ๐ฟ ๐๐จ ๐๐ฎ๐ป๐ฐ๐๐ถ๐ผ๐ป๐ ๐น๐ฎ๐, and exercising the rights attached to them โ including voting rights โ constitutes a use of those funds.
Allowing sanctioned entities to participate in corporate governance would, in the Courtโs view, undermine the purpose of asset-freezing measures, as shareholder decisions can affect the management, functioning and value of the underlying company. The prohibition therefore applies fully and without exception.
๐๐ฐ๐ฏ๐ต๐ข๐ค๐ต ๐ง๐ฐ๐ณ ๐ฎ๐ฐ๐ณ๐ฆ ๐ช๐ฏ๐ง๐ฐ๐ณ๐ฎ๐ข๐ต๐ช๐ฐ๐ฏ ๐ฐ๐ฏ ๐ญ๐ฆ๐จ๐ข๐ญ ๐ค๐ฐ๐ฎ๐ฑ๐ญ๐ช๐ข๐ฏ๐ค๐ฆ ๐ฎ๐ข๐ต๐ต๐ฆ๐ณ๐ด.
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