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05 May 2023 / Philip Munro , Phineas Hirsch
Issue: 8023 / Categories: Features , Sanctions
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Russian state assets: a question of trust?

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Philip Munro & Phineas Hirsch examine the proposed use of a trust in relation to international sanctions laws, & the issues that a trustee might face
  • The Seizure of Russian State Assets and Support for Ukraine Bill is a Private Members’ Bill intended to vest Russian state assets in the UK in a trust, to be used to benefit Ukraine.
  • This article discusses the issues that a trustee might face in accepting this trusteeship.
  • It also considers the form of trust proposed for this function.

A Private Members’ Bill, the Seizure of Russian State Assets and Support for Ukraine Bill, was laid before Parliament in February 2023 by Sir Chris Bryant MP, and purports to create a mechanism for the seizure of Russian state assets. The mechanism proposed in the Bill uses a form of trust, but the Bill itself provides limited detail on how this trust might work. It might be queried whether the Bill’s original draftsman intended that the seized assets actually be

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