埃克森美孚在OFAC制裁罚款案中胜诉

PHOTO: RICHARD DREW/ASSOCIATED PRESS

Exxon Mobil Corp. won’t have to pay a fine for continuing to do business with a Russian state-run oil company amid increasing U.S. sanctions on the country, a federal judge ruled.

美国一位联邦法官裁定，埃克森美孚(Exxon Mobil Corp.)不必因为继续与一家俄罗斯国有石油公司开展业务而支付罚款。

U.S. District Judge Jane Boyle’s ruling this week voids a $2 million fine the U.S. Treasury Department imposed on the Irving, Texas-based oil giant in July 2017 for allegedly violating U.S. sanctions on Russia when it entered into contracts with Russian oil firm PAO Rosneft.

美国联邦地区法院法官Jane Boyle本周的裁决推翻了美国财政部2017年7月对埃克森美孚处以的200万美元罚款。美国财政部当时罚款的理由是，埃克森美孚与俄罗斯石油公司PAO Rosneft签订合同违反了美国对俄罗斯的制裁。

“ExxonMobil acknowledges the court’s decision, which confirms we complied with the applicable sanction,” a company spokesman said in a statement.

埃克森美孚一名发言人在声明中称∶“埃克森美孚认可法庭的裁决，该裁决证实我们遵守了相应制裁规定。”

Exxon was fined for executing contracts with state-run Rosneft after President Barack Obama issued sanctions against Russia for annexing Ukraine’s Crimea region. Even though Rosneft wasn’t added to the U.S. sanctions list, the contracts were signed by the company’s chief executive, Igor Sechin, who was.

时任美国总统奥巴马(Barack Obama)因俄罗斯吞并乌克兰克里米亚地区而对俄实施制裁后，埃克森美孚曾因与俄罗斯国有企业Rosneft执行合同而被罚款。当时Rosneft虽然没有被列入美国制裁名单，但合同的签署人伊格尔·谢钦(Igor Sechin)在制裁名单上，此人是该公司的首席执行官。

Exxon in 2018 said it was abandoning its venture with Rosneft after failing to secure a waiver from President Donald Trump to drill with the company in several areas banned under U.S. sanctions. But the company continued to fight the fine imposed by the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control.

埃克森美孚2018年表示将放弃与Rosneft的合资企业，原因是未能获得美国总统特朗普(Donald Trump)的豁免，无法与该公司一起在美国制裁禁止的几个领域进行钻探。但该公司继续与美国财政部外国资产管制办公室(Office of Foreign Assets Control, 简称OFAC)开出的罚单作斗争。

The lawsuit was seen by some sanctions lawyers as an opportunity to clarify an ambiguity about how OFAC enforces sanctions against blacklisted individuals with ties to nonblacklisted companies.

一些制裁律师认为，如果被列入黑名单的个人与未列入黑名单的企业有关，在这种情况下该如何实施制裁，OFAC语焉不详，而该案提供了一个澄清机会。

The agency has since released additional guidance on the issue, cautioning companies against entering into contracts signed by blacklisted individuals. The guidance was issued after Exxon and Mr. Sechin signed the contracts.

此后，OFAC就这一问题发布了进一步的指导意见，警告企业不要执行黑名单上的个人签署的合同。该指引是在埃克森美孚和谢钦签署合同后发布的。

In its lawsuit, Exxon pointed to a press release and public statements by White House officials, saying that the focus of the sanctions was on blacklisted individuals’ personal assets, rather than on any companies they managed on behalf of the Russian government.

埃克森美孚在诉讼中提到了一份新闻稿和白宫官员的公开声明，称制裁的重点是被列入黑名单人员的个人资产，而非他们代表俄罗斯政府管理的任何公司。

Judge Boyle admonished Exxon for not seeking further guidance from OFAC—which is tasked with interpreting and enforcing the executive branch’s sanctions orders—at the time of the contracts, calling the company’s decision risky and possibly imprudent.

法官Boyle告诫埃克森美孚称，该公司在签署这些合同时没有向OFAC寻求进一步的指导，并称该公司的决定具有风险，而且可能不够谨慎。OFAC负责解释和执行行政部门的制裁令。

The judge, however, said OFAC ultimately failed to give the company fair notice of its interpretation of the Ukraine sanctions, a violation of the due process clause of the Fifth Amendment.

但该法官称，从根本上而言，OFAC未能公平告知该公司关于乌克兰制裁的解释，这违反了《宪法第五修正案》(Fifth Amendment)的正当程序条款。

A Treasury spokeswoman declined to comment on the ruling.

财政部的一位发言人未就该裁决置评。

Mr. Tillerson signed an agreement with Rosneft’s CEO Igor Sechin to develop reserves in western Siberia in 2012. PHOTO: EPA

OFAC had argued that the plain language of the executive branch’s sanctions orders was enough to give Exxon fair notice. At issue in particular was whether Mr. Sechin’s signing of the contracts constituted a service.

OFAC此前认为，行政部门制裁令的清楚措辞足以构成对埃克森美孚的公平告知。各方争论的一个焦点是，谢钦签署的合同是否构成一种服务。

The signing could be considered a service, Judge Boyle said, given that it was performed in Rosneft’s interest. But the text of the Obama administration’s executive order didn’t give Exxon fair notice that the receipt of such a service would violate U.S. sanctions, according to the judge.

法官Boyle称，鉴于合同履行是为了Rosneft的利益，签署合同可被视为一种服务。但该法官称，奥巴马政府这项行政命令的文本没有向埃克森美孚发出公平告知，即接受此类服务会违反美国制裁规定。

The ruling is a rare win by a company against the U.S. government’s sanctions enforcer, which has broad authority to enforce U.S. foreign policy.

这项裁决是企业针对美国政府制裁执行机构取得的罕见胜利，这些执行机构拥有执行美国对外政策的广泛权力。

Dylan Tokar

Jan. 15, 2020 6:40 pm ET

（本文版权归道琼斯公司所有，未经许可不得翻译或转载。）

更多阅读：

道琼斯公司（Dow Jones）创建于1882年，旗下有道琼斯指数、Barron's《巴伦》、WSJ《华尔街日报》、MarketWatch、Factiva、VentureSource、Risk & Compliance等品牌。“道琼斯风险合规”是全球领先的风险合规服务商。本公众号由道琼斯风险合规中国团队运营。欢迎您关注或咨询：[e-mail]