Minister names firm working for Russian oligarch Usmanov

The government has named a London law firm which it says is working on behalf of a Russian oligarch regarding the new sanctions regime. 

Foreign Office minister James Cleverly said lawyers providing legal services to Russian oligarchs and entities, who had written to his department since 10 February, ‘include’ BCL Solicitors LLP.

Cleverly said the firm, based at Lincoln’s Inn Fields, had written on behalf of billionaire business-magnate Alisher Usmanov. He added that the department had also received representations from Russian bank Sberbank. 

Usmanov was hit with sanctions last week freezing his assets and banning him from travelling to the UK.

There is no suggestion that either BCL Solicitors or Sberbank have acted improperly or unlawfully.

Cleverly was asked in a parliamentary question from Labour MP Dame Margaret Hodge to name the individuals and firms who had sent correspondence since 10 February on specific or proposed designations under the Russia (Sanctions) Regulations 2022.

It is not clear from the minister’s response whether BCL Solicitors is the only law firm to have made representations on behalf of Russian clients. Cleverly added: ‘We have sanctioned Putin and Lavrov, Russia’s defence industry and a growing list of oligarchs. As the foreign secretary said in the House [of Commons] on 28 February, we are targeting oligarchs close to Putin without fear or favour, and we will continue to do so.’

The firm has opted not to make any public comment on its naming or the work it has been instructed to do. BCL partner Ian Burton told The Times: ‘It is not appropriate for law firms to confirm who they do or they don’t act for, nor to provide any details of matters relating to their instructions without the specific authority of the particular client.’

There has been a growing movement among some politicians to deter professional services firms from helping oligarchs to oppose sanctions imposed since the Russian invasion of Ukraine.

Foreign secretary Liz Truss has spoken of lawyers sending threatening letters to her department over the sanctions issue, while prime minister Boris Johnson urged that Russia ‘must be treated like a pariah state’ and warned law firms they should not be supporting allies of the Russian regime.

Johnson’s spokesperson said last week that businesses should ‘think very carefully if they are still continuing to do anything that props up the Putin regime’.