TRADE SANCTIONS RISING IN CONCERN FOR ORGANISATIONS AGAIN

Airmic survey highlights impact of the increasing volatility of geopolitical incidents.

Trade sanctions are rising in concern again for organisations as respondents in this week’s Airmic Big Question survey have ranked it third in terms of their impact on them among geopolitics-related incidents. Supply chain disruption and cyber attacks were ranked first and second respectively. The results have come as countries including the UK have recently unleashed their largest sanctions package on Russia since the early days of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine more than three years ago.

Julia Graham, CEO of Airmic, said: “As we have seen from the ongoing war in Ukraine, geopolitical risk does not sit in a silo and should not be viewed as a standalone risk. In our increasingly interconnected world, geopolitical events exacerbate and interlink with existing business-critical risks. Sanctions have exacerbated legal, regulatory and compliance risk.”

Earlier this month, the US administration said it was “strongly considering large-scale sanctions” on Russia until a ceasefire and peace deal with Ukraine is reached.

Hoe-Yeong Loke, Head of Research at Airmic, said: “The new US administration has been taking a tough line with Ukraine, while also being prepared to slap a major new sanctions package on Russia, all in a bid to shut down the war between the two parties as soon as it can. Organisations can expect a rough ride, and they must be nimble and constantly monitor their geopolitical environment in such periods of volatility, while planning for a number of key scenarios.”

While political violence was ranked fourth in terms of its impact on organisations, the latest incidents such as Israel’s renewed strikes on Gaza and the US’s escalation in its targeting of Yemen’s Houthi rebels have the propensity to exacerbate all other geopolitical risks.

Leigh-Anne Slade, Head of Media, Communications and Interest Groups, said: “What Airmic members really value are forums such as our special interest groups where they are able to share insights and challenges with their peers, and this has alerted them to increasingly interconnected geopolitical risks from sanctions to supply chain disruption to expropriation risk.”

If you would like to request an interview and or have any further questions, please let me know.

We will be sharing the results of the Airmic Big Question with the press weekly.

You can also find the results here.

Media contact: Leigh Anne Slade
Head of Media, Communications and Interest Groups, Airmic
Leigh-Anne.Slade@Airmic.com
07956 41 78 77