Germany: Sanctions enforcement around the G7 – the German perspective

Anahita Thoms heads Baker McKenzie's International Trade Practice in Germany and is a member of our EMEA Steering Committee for Compliance & Investigations. Anahita is Global Lead Sustainability Partner for our Industrials, Manufacturing and Transportation Industry Group. She serves as an Advisory Board Member in profit and non-profit organizations, such as Atlantik-Brücke, and is an elected National Committee Member at UNICEF Germany. She has served for three consecutive terms as the ABA Co-chair of the Export Controls and Economic Sanctions Committee and as the ABA Vice-Chair of the International Human Rights Committee. Anahita has also been an Advisory Board Member (Beirätin) of the Sustainable Finance Advisory Council of the German Government.

Anahita has won various accolades for her work, including 100 Most Influential Women in German Business (manager magazin), Top Lawyer (Wirtschaftswoche), Winner of the Strive Awards in the category Sustainability, Pioneer in the area of sustainability (Juve), International Trade Lawyer of the Year (Germany) 2020 ILO Client Choice Awards, Young Global Leader of the World Economic Forum, Capital 40 under 40, International Trade Lawyer of the Year (New York) 2016 ILO Client Choice Awards. In 2023, Handelsblatt recognized her as one of Germany’s Dealmaker and “most sought after advisors of the country” in the field of sustainability.

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Dr. Alexander Ehrle is a member and senior associate of the Firm‘s Sustainability & International Trade Practice in Baker McKenzie's Berlin and Brussels offices. Alexander is admitted to practice in Germany and New York.
Alexander advises clients on the international, European and public law governing international trade and geopolitics. Alexander handles the FDI and FSR applications and clearances in M&A transactions in the EU, Germany and globally and has been recognized for his work as one of 40 under 40 lawyers worldwide for foreign investment control by the Global Competition Review. His practice encompasses advising on international sanctions and export controls at all stages of investigations, audits and court proceedings. Alexander is also an expert in ESG legislation and advises client on the compliance with the CSDDD, the LkSG, the CSRD and ESRS, and other EU Green Deal Regulations, such as the EU Deforestation Regulation, the EU Forced Labor Regulation and CBAM. He advocates for a diligent approach to ESG regulation and provides his expertise to an international audience as co-chair convening the Business & Human Rights Committee of the American Bar Association’s International Law Section.
Alexander studied law at the Universities of Heidelberg, Montpellier (France), Mainz, Munich and New York (NYU) specializing in Public International and European Law. He worked as advisor and member of a delegation of a developing country at the United Nations before qualifying for the German bar. He qualified for the German bar, working with the German Ministry of Foreign Affairs’ Middle East Department in Berlin and the German embassy in Tokyo as well as with international law firms in Frankfurt, Berlin and Milan.
Alexander has been seconded to and worked with a major company in the optical industrial and manufacturing technology sector.

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Kimberley Fischer is a member of the International Trade Practice in Baker McKenzie's Berlin office. She joined the Firm in 2022. Kimberley studied law at the Ruprecht Karls University of Heidelberg and the Universidad de Deusto (Spain), with a focus on public international law and human rights. Prior to joining the Firm, Kimberley completed her legal traineeship at the Higher Regional Court of Frankfurt am Main, the German Federal Foreign Office in Berlin and at an international law firm in Brussels and Frankfurt am Main. She also gained significant experience in public (international) law as a research assistant at the University of Heidelberg and at a reputable law firm.

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