Sanctions regimes in the U.S., U.K. and EU are evolving rapidly, causing continual changes, and the penalties for failure โ€“ civil and criminal โ€“ are potentially huge. Multiple inconsistent sanctions lists and increased focus on supply chains and third-party entities are making compliance for global organizations a full-time headache.

Ruth Prickett graduated from Cambridge University with a BA hons in History and has specialized in business and finance journalism for the past 20 years. She was editor of Financial Management, the magazine...