LONDON (Reuters) -British regulators fined global law firm Herbert Smith Freehills on Thursday after its now defunct Moscow subsidiary breached UK sanctions on Russia, cutting the final penalty by half due to voluntary disclosure.
The Office of Financial Sanctions Implementation (OFSI) imposed a penalty of 465,000 pounds ($603,058.50) on HSF Moscow, which was the subsidiary office of the UK-registered HSF London until its closure in 2022 after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, the UK government said in a statement.
The fine relates to six payments made by HSF Moscow worth 3.9 million pounds ($5.06 million) to JSC, PJSC Sovcombank, and PJSC Sberbank, which are all subject to an asset freeze under Britain’s sanctions on Russia following the invasion of Ukraine, the UK government said.
Herbert Smith Freehills, which has 2,400 lawyers in 24 offices around the world, said the payments were a result of human error, in the final week of the winding up of its Moscow operations.
The payments do not relate to the firm’s clients or client work, or to any of the firm’s offices other than its former office in Moscow, Herbert Smith Freehills (CIS) LLP, the law firm said in a statement.
“We were disappointed by the fine that has been imposed. Nonetheless, we are pleased that this matter has now been resolved,” it said.
The UK government said the payments, which took place over a period of seven days as the firm wound down its Russian offices, demonstrated a pattern of failings.
It added that HSF London voluntarily disclosed the breaches to OFSI, resulting in a 50% reduction to the final penalty amount.
($1 = 0.7710 pounds)
(Reporting by Muvija M and Sam Tobin; editing by William James and Susan Fenton)
