The EU released updated guidance on the provision of business services under its Russia sanctions regime, adding an overview table of the EU restrictions on services. The European Commission added five questions to its FAQs about business services, covering how the sectoral scope for IT consultancy services is defined, whether the measures on IT consultancy services hamper the conditions of civil society organization in Russia, which software updates are exempted from the ban on IT consultancy services, what activities are covered on the architectural and engineering services ban and what activities are covered by the ban on legal advisory services.

The World Uyghur Congress and the Global Legal Action Network launched a case at the High Court in London accusing U.K. government agencies of breaking the law by not investigating the importation of cotton products made by forced labor in China's Xinjiang region. The court heard a trial on Oct. 25 in which the WUC challenged the British home secretary, HM Revenue and Customs and the National Crime Agency for refusing to investigate goods allegedly made by forced labor of the Uyghur Muslim minority in the region, The Guardian reported.

The Paris Court of Appeals ordered the French government to release an impounded yacht owned by EU-sanctioned Russian billionaire Alexey Kuzmichev due to procedural errors made during the vessel's seizure, according to an unofficial translation. Kuzmichev is one of the main shareholders of Russia's Alfa Bank. French customs seized the yacht, called La Petite Ourse, in March following Kuzmichev's addition to the sanctions list. The yacht was moored in Antibes. The French court said the customs agents did not follow correct procedure when searching the vessel, incorrectly relying on an authority that permitted a search in connection with suspected fraud.

Law firm Mayer Brown will enter into a joint law venture with Singapore firm PK Wong & Nair following approval from the Singapore Legal Services Regulatory Authority, Mayer Brown announced. The joint venture, dubbed the Mayer Brown PK Wong & Nair Pte. Ltd., will offer advising services on international and Singapore law with all Singapore court litigation provided via PK Wong & Nair, the firm said. Mayer Brown opened a Singapore office in 2011, growing the outlet to over 25 lawyers.

Up to 11 former employees of Swiss global commodity trading and mining company Glencore could be investigated in the U.K. under charges of bribery in five African countries, Alexandra Healy, an attorney for the U.K.'s Serious Fraud Office (SFO), said Oct. 24 in a London court, Bloomberg reported. The alleged scheme involved more than $28 million in bribes, though the SFO didn't say if all 11 were being investigated for bribery. Glencoe told Bloomberg the 11 are former employees. Healy said the SFO will make individual charging decisions likely by the end of April. In DOJ's parallel investigation, two former Glencore traders, Anthony Stimler and Emilio Heredia, pleaded guilty, Bloomberg said. The SFO announced in May that Glencore was expected to pay around $1.5 billion to settle investigations into bribery and price manipulation charges revolving around deals in the U.S., U.K. and Brazil.

The U.K. implemented a General License Oct. 17 permitting individuals and entities designated under the Belarus and Russia sanctions regimes and companies owned or controlled by these sanctioned parties to pay funds to the London Court of International Arbitration to cover arbitration costs. The license also permits the LCIA to use funds deposited by sanctioned parties, companies owned or controlled by sanctioned parties or their legal representatives before their listing. The license "is of indefinite duration."

Singapore State courts sentenced Muhammad Rifa'ie Bin Mazlan Oct. 11 to 26 months in prison for conspiring to sell cigarettes for which duties had not been paid, Singapore Customs announced. A Singaporean national, Rifa'ie will also serve one month and 18 days in prison for possessing and using property "reasonably suspected" to be obtained from criminal conduct. He pleaded guilty to one charge under the Customs Act and two counts of violating Section 47AA of the Corruption, Drug Trafficking and Other Serious Crimes Act.

The European Court of Justice on Sept. 8 ruled the EU properly reimposed antidumping duties on certain footwear with uppers of leather from China and Vietnam. Ruling against German footwear company Puma, the bloc's highest court said the European Commission in 2016 legally reimposed the duties of up to 16.5%.

Vietnam's Dinh Ba Customs Branch will prosecute an individual charged with illegally transporting currency across the border from Cambodia to Vietnam, the state-run CustomsNews reported Sept. 15. The case was transferred to the Investigation Policy Agency of the Tan Hong district policy to continue the investigation per the country's regulations, the report said. The defendant, Trinh Linh Em, was stopped at the Dinh Ba international border gate, where border agents found piles of money that the man said amounted to nearly $14,000, from cockfights in Cambodia. The Dinh Ba Customs Branch said Linh Em brought the money into the country without declaring it.

Ukrainian state-owned oil and gas company Naftogaz launched a request for arbitration with the International Court of Arbitration of the International Chamber of Commerce over "the actions" of Russian oil company Gazprom, Naftogaz said in a statement. The Ukrainian company demands that Gazprom pay for natural gas transit services carried out in Ukraine. Gazprom has not paid any of these funds, "neither on time nor in full," the statement said. Added Naftogaz CEO Yuriy Vitrenko: "We will make Gazprom pay. Naftogaz also assesses the possibility of additional claims. We will use our experience of victories over Gazprom in arbitration."