EU Court Upholds Commission's Decision to Allow German Bank to Comply With US Sanctions

The EU General Court last week affirmed a European Commission decision that allowed German securities depository bank Clearstream Banking to comply with U.S. sanctions on Iran. The case stemmed from a commission decision in 2020 that authorized Clearstream to withhold payment of dividends to German firm IFIC Holding, whose shares are indirectly held by the Iranian government. IFIC had asked the General Court to annul the decision.

The court tossed the suit after ruling the commission's decisions have "no retroactive effect" and don't cover conduct before the decisions took place. The court also said the commission was not required to take IFIC's interests into account, only those of the party seeking authorization to comply with the U.S. sanctions. The court added that the commission did not need to consider "whether less onerous alternatives existed" and did not need to hear IFIC in the "context of the procedure leading to the adoption of the contested decisions."