FX.co ★ US court cancels fine for violating anti-Russian sanctions

The US legal system is admired worldwide for its independence and impartial verdicts. In countries with corrupted governments, a company and particularly an individual has a slim chance of winning a lawsuit against a public agency or an official. Russia is no exception. By contrast, no one is above the law in the US. An American court exercises its power to challenge political decisions, for instance, international sanctions imposed by the President’s administration. Federal judge Jane Boyle of a court in the Northern District of the US state of Texas made a ruling confounding the US foreign policy. In May 2014, ExxonMobil signed several contracts with the Russian Rosneft headed by Igor Sechin within the framework of joint oil exploration projects. A bit earlier in April, the US Treasury Department included the Rosneft CEO known as a powerful ally of Russia’s President Vladimir Putin in the blacklist due to his involvement in the annexation of the Crimean peninsula. Accused of violating the sanctions, ExxonMobil was penalized $2 million. Later, the US company argued the wrongful fine in the lawsuit. In fact, the ban concerned personally Igor Sechin, but not Rosneft which was not under sanctions. According to ExxonMobil, the Treasury Department breached the Administrative Procedure Act and took this “arbitrary and capricious decision.” The judge found such arguments convincing and canceled the fine levied by Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin.