OFSI updates its enforcement guidance regarding ownership and control by sanctioned persons

17 March 2023

On 16 March, the UK’s Office of Financial Sanctions Implementation (“OFSI”) updated its guidance on monetary penalties and enforcement (the “Guidance”) to set out its enforcement approach in cases involving ownership and control by designated persons. This is an issue which has assumed increased prominence during the past year with the escalation of sanctions against Russia and the huge number of additional asset freeze designations made as a result. This has resulted in many companies analysing whether their counterparties may be deemed to be “owned or controlled” by a sanctions target – a question to which there is often no easy answer.

In this briefing we summarise the new guidance provided by OFSI in this regard. Continue reading →

Strict liability test for sanctions breaches come into force

15 June 2022

Changes to the UK’s financial sanctions regime, introduced by the Economic Crime (Transparency and Enforcement) Act 2022 (the “Act“), came into force today (15 June 2022) and, with them, the power for the Office of Financial Sanctions Implementation (“OFSI“) to impose civil monetary penalties in respect of financial sanctions breaches on a strict liability basis (i.e. irrespective of any knowledge or suspicion). Continue reading →

OFSI publishes annual review 2020-2021

19 October 2021

On 14 October 2021, the UK’s Office of Financial Sanctions Implementation (“OFSI”) published its annual review for the period April 2020 to March 2021 (the “Annual Review”). The purpose of the Annual Review is to give an overview of OFSI’s operational work in the preceding financial year, providing key statistics from the different areas of financial sanctions. We have set out some of the key takeaways from this year’s Annual Review below (for details of the 2019-2020 review, please see our previous blog post). Continue reading →

OFSI imposes monetary penalty on fintech company for breach of financial sanctions

9 August 2021

On 5 August 2021, the Office of Financial Sanctions Implementation (“OFSI”) announced the imposition of a monetary penalty of £50,000 on TransferGo Limited (“TransferGo”) in respect of a breach of the financial sanctions imposed in respect of the situation in Ukraine. This is the fifth time OFSI has used its power to impose civil penalties for breach of financial sanctions (granted under the Policing and Crime Act 2017 (the “PCA”)). Continue reading →

OFSI releases its third Annual Review for 2019-2020

16 October 2020

On 9 October 2020, HM Treasury’s Office of Financial Sanctions Implementation (OFSI) published its latest Annual Review for the 2019-20 financial year. The publication marks the third report which OFSI have published and provides an overview of the work undertaken by OFSI in the financial year 2019-20 (April 2019 to March 2020). It also looks ahead to sanctions implementation in the future with a particular focus, this year, on how sanctions will be enforced at the end of the Brexit transition period. Points which may be of particular interest to readers are set out below. Continue reading →

EU introduces sanctions in relation to cyberattacks

3 August 2020

On 30 July 2020, the European Council announced that asset freezing sanctions were to be imposed on six Chinese and Russian individuals and three entities (based in China, Russia and North Korea) responsible for, or involved in, various cyberattacks, including the attempted cyberattack against the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons and those publicly known as “WannaCry”, “NotPetya” and “Operation Cloud Hopper”. Continue reading →

UK introduces human rights-related sanctions under post-Brexit sanctions framework

17 July 2020

On 6 July 2020, the United Kingdom introduced unilateral sanctions against 49 individuals and entities from Saudi Arabia, Russia, Myanmar and North Korea accused of involvement in several high profile human rights violations and abuses.The Global Human Rights Sanctions Regulations 2020 (the “Sanctions Regulations”), made pursuant to the Sanctions and Anti-Money Laundering Act 2018 ( “SAMLA”), are specifically tailored to address human rights abuses and mark the first time that the UK has imposed sanctions for human rights violations and abuses independently of either the United Nations or the European Union (“EU”) sanctions regimes. Continue reading →