Samantha Salsench

Trade, Sanctions, & Customs

Samantha advises on Swiss sanctions law, including both trade sanctions and financial sanctions. She supports clients with submitting license applications to SECO and with conceiving and implementing due diligence measures. This includes drafting contractual clauses and ex-post controls to mitigate any risks involved.

She also advises clients on Swiss export controls, trade preferences under free trade agreements, and Swiss customs law.

Foreign Investment Review (FIR)

Samantha coordinates the assessment of M&A transactions involving multiple jurisdictions under FIR laws to determine the applicable filing requirements. She also does the FIR assessment of transactions under Swiss law.

White-collar crime and Investigations and Compliance

Samantha has broad experience in white-collar crime litigation, having represented natural and legal persons before all instances of Spanish courts, assuming the roles of defense counsel and private prosecution.

She has also advised on, coordinated or participated in internal investigations, very frequently with cross-border implications and related to judicial proceedings.

She also regularly advises corporations on preparing or updating their criminal-law related compliance programs (including training for employees and periodical assessments).

ESG-Compliance

Samantha advises companies on their due diligence and reporting obligations relating to non-financial matters, as well as to raw materials, minerals and metals from conflict-affected areas, and child labor under Articles 964a-964l of the Swiss Code of Obligations.

Investigations

• Acted as part of the defense team representing a debt collection company in several criminal investigations before the Office of the Public Prosecutor involving allegations of fraud, coercion, defamation or breach of information, disclosure and cooperation obligations under the Data Protection Act.
• Participated in an internal investigation involving document review and interviews in response to a public prosecutor's request for documents in connection with criminal proceedings in Switzerland for money laundering.

Sanctions and Export controls

• Advised on and prepared the relevant applications for SECO licenses to terminate banking relationships with a designated Russian bank. This covered issues related to payment of fees to the designated bank and the NSD, reception of dividend payments in accounts with the designated bank, and options for conducting share transfers without incurring fees to the NSD.
• Advised and prepared a letter for SECO to advocate the transfer of shares deposited with a designated custodian to another account held with the same custodian, in coordination with license applications to the Cypriot and UK authorities. This matter covered the settlement of fees with the designated custodian and the NSD.

Trade & Customs

• Assessed the implications for an entity with fish farming and tomato production in Western Sahara of the Judgment of the Grand Chamber of the European Court of Justice of 4 October 2024 in the joined cases C-778/21 O and C-798/21 P and Judgment of the Grand Chamber of the European Court of Justice of 4 October 2024 in the joined cases C-779/21 P and C-799/21 P as well as the trade preferences that apply to the importation into the EU of the products concerned.
• Advised on customs duties liability and customs compliance liability of electronic sales platforms under the deemed supplier rules of the Swiss VAT Act.

Foreign Investment Review

• Coordinated the foreign investment review for the acquisition by a German subsidiary of a Swiss parent company of an entity with subsidiaries in 11 jurisdictions, preparing the relevant RFIs, gathering the FIR analysis, and coordinating the drafting of the relevant closing condition on FIR clearance.

ESG Compliance

• Advised a US-based IT security company with subsidiaries in Switzerland on its ESG due diligence and reporting obligations pursuant to Articles 964a–964l of the Swiss Code of Obligations, as well as on the internal documentation supporting the applied measures.
• Advised a US-based IT company with subsidiaries in Switzerland on its due diligence and reporting obligations relating to conflict minerals, non-financial matters and child labor. Reviewed the content of its consolidated report to ensure compliance with its obligations relating to child labor.
• Advised a global technology company with presence in Switzerland on its due diligence and reporting obligations under Articles 964a–964l of the Swiss Code of Obligations, on consolidated reporting for child labor and on establishing a supply chain policy on child labor.

• Member, Barcelona Bar Association (ICAB)
• Member, Associació de Becaris de la Fundació "la Caixa"
• Alumnus, Deutscher Akademischer Austauschdienst
  
   

• Barcelona