Guidance: Financial sanctions: guidance

The HM Treasury’s Office of Financial Sanctions Implementation (OFSI) has published an updated version of its General guidance for financial sanctions under the Sanctions and Anti-Money Laundering Act 2018. The guidance was initially published in 2021 to provide basic information on UK’s financial sanction framework and support firms in their efforts to comply with current rules and regulations in that regard. It covers numerous issues including, among others:
(1) the purpose and scope of financial sanction measures in UK;
(2) „who is subject for financial sanctions?“ and the content and meaning of the financial sanction lists;
(3) the different types of financial sanctions restrictions (e.g. asset freezes or restrictions on the provision of certain financial services and products) and the implication of such restrictions for UK firms;
(4) the determination of ownership and control in relation to financial assets (share holdings, deposits, etc.);
(5) the reporting obligations of UK firms in connection with financial sanctions, e.g. in the case of suspected beneficial ownership of a designated person; or
(6) exceptions for certain restrictions such as the crediting of interest payments towards designated accounts or the granting of licenses for the conduct of activities that are otherwise prohibited under aforementioned AML Act.
The guidance also sets out numerous examples, for instance, as to permitted activities by UK financial market participants or as to the determination of „ownership“ or control and subsequent steps to be taken by firms.
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This latest revised version contains modifications in section 6.12 as regards the refusal of a licence to clarify just which option an entity or individual has to have its case reconsidered by the OFSI, namely:
– the re-application for a license with new supporting documents or arguments;
– the re-application for a license seeking the application of a different derogation; or
– the challenge of the OFSI’s decision in court.