What to do?

The solution can be divided into several stages.

Stage 1. Preparation and submission of an application for exemption from the restrictions imposed by the EU sanctions regulation to the Belgian Treasury

Step 1. Submitting an application to the Belgian Treasury

1. Audit: audit of the documents provided by the individuals, development of the approach and structure of possible argumentation in the application (from 3 working days to 1 week).

2. Euroclear Notification: draft notification to Euroclear challenging its position on the application of restrictions, subsequent correspondence with Euroclear (start of the service: from 3 working days to one week after the audit).

3. Sending an application to the Belgian Treasury: preparation and submission of a request to the main Treasury department, subsequent correspondence and disputes (the beginning of the service: from 3 working days to one week after the audit).

The Treasury's response to the application may be: an exemption that allows (partially or completely) to unlock securities; a request for additional information; a refusal to release.

Step 2. Appeal the actions of the Treasury and Euroclear in court

Filing a statement of claim to the court may be necessary if filing an application to the Treasury does not bring the desired result. This is possible in 3 scenarios:

I. No response from the local Treasury

The Treasury is not limited by the deadline for giving a response to applicants, so waiting for a response can take a considerable time. The principle of good governance can be applied, within which the applicant can demand through the court the Treasury's response to his request. The term of appeal against the actions of the Treasury in court is from 3 months.

II.  Getting a Waiver from the Treasury

In case of refusal, the decision of the Treasury may be appealed in court by filing a statement of claim to overturn the decision of the Treasury to refuse to grant the exemption. If a decision is made in favor of the individuals, the Treasury will be obliged to reconsider its decision regarding the submitted application. The term for appealing the treasury's decision in court is from 3 months.

III.  Euroclear's failure to comply with the Treasury's decision to grant an exemption from blocking assets of individuals

If Euroclear does not comply with the Treasury's decision to release, then Euroclear can be obliged to execute the decision in court. The company will be obliged to execute the decision of the state body by a court decision and will be fined for each day of delay in the execution of the decision. The deadline for appealing the company's actions in court is at least 3 weeks.

Stage 2. Support for lifting restrictions on securities of individuals

We would like to draw your attention to the fact that one of the working conditions of most European lawyers is KYC verification, including verification of the sources of clients' funds for which the securities to be unblocked were purchased.

To form a favorable image of the client and create a strong position in relation to the sources of income of the individuals, we offer you the following services:

1. Analysis of documents, extracts and filed tax returns of the individuals for the purpose of verifying the completeness of the information provided to Belgian lawyers;

2. Providing explanations in case of additional requests from lawyers;

3. Communication and coordination of lawyers' actions in Belgium.

Please contact us to arrange the work!