United Kingdom – Page 9 – European Sanctions Enforcement

April 9, 2024 by Mark Handley

United Kingdom – charges to two further individuals added to existing prosecution

Further to our earlier post, regarding the UK’s National Crime Agency charging Dmitry Ovsyannikov with multiple counts of breaching the UK’s Russian sanctions, following a hearing in London it is now apparent that the National Crime Agency has also charged Ekaterina Ovsiannikova (the first defendant’s wife) and Alexei Owsjanikow, (the second defendant’s brother).

As per Spotlight on Corruption, a further hearing is listed for 28 June to hear application by the defendants to dismiss the charges.

The hearing, as reported by Global Investigations Review (behind a paywall), on Monday was largely procedural and dealt with issues like bail terms. The defendants have yet to enter a plea.

April 4, 2024 by Mark Handley

United Kingdom – Gambling Commission fines two operators citing sanctions compliance failings

The UK’s regulator for the gambling sector, the Gambling Commission has issued a press release recording fines of £343,035 against Hillside (UK) Gaming ENC and £239,085 against Hillside (UK Sports) ENC.

Both companies operate under the Bet365 brand.

The fines in part relate to social responsibility failings, and partly to financial crime compliance failings including “failing to undertake financial sanctions checks on new customers prior to their first deposits”.

March 29, 2024 by Mark Handley

United Kingdom – joint sanctions investigation with US into $20 billion crypto transactions

It is being reported that the UK and the US are undertaking a joint investigation into $20 billion in crypto currency transactions said to be in breach of Russian sanctions.

The payments under scrutiny flowed through the Moscow-based Garantex crypto exchange, utilizing the dollar-pegged stablecoin Tether.

The original story was published by Bloomberg, behind a paywall.

It is also being reported that the National Crime Agency and HM Treasury have provided no comment in relation to the investigation.

March 15, 2024March 15, 2024 by Mark Handley

European sanctions enforcement: the last two months

This blog has been live now for just over two months.

During that time and by way of recap, a number of states have provided updated enforcement statistics in that period (Finland, Switzerland, Latvia), but the period has also seen a significant volume of new enforcement activity:

Continue reading “European sanctions enforcement: the last two months”

February 7, 2024March 15, 2024 by Mark Handley

UK – FCA investigating banks over Iran sanctions allegations

Following widespread press reports (initially in the Financial Times) that a series of front companies linked to the Iranian Revolutionary Guard held accounts in the UK with Lloyds Bank and Santander, it is now being reported (behind a paywall) that both banks have been contacted by the Financial Conduct Authority in relation to the allegations.

Both banks have denied breaching sanctions.

February 1, 2024February 1, 2024 by Mark Handley

United Kingdom – NCA charges Russian national with seven counts of circumventing sanctions

It has been reported today that the UK’s National Crime Agency has arrested and charged Dmitry Ovsyannikov, a Russian national, with seven counts of circumventing sanctions as well as two money laundering charges.

Ovsyannikov was formerly the governor of Russian-seized Sevastopol and was designated by the EU in 2017 and then post-Brexit by the UK in 2020.

He is due to first appear in Southwark Crown Court on 20 February. He was arrested on 22 January.

To date the National Crime Agency has not issued a press release

January 22, 2024January 22, 2024 by Mark Handley

UK reports Russia to UN North Korean sanctions committee

It has been reported today that the UK has provided the UN Committee responsible for oversight of the UN’s sanctions against North Korea with a dossier of evidence said to establish breaches of those sanctions by Russian shipping.

The Committee has the power to designate vessels which it finds were complicit in breaching the existing sanctions.

December 12, 2023March 15, 2024 by Mark Handley

UK – OFSI’s enforcement statistics for 2022-23

The UK’s Office of Financial Sanctions Implementation has today published its Annual Review for 2022-2023.

The report includes the following regarding enforcement activity:

“As of April 2023, OFSI’s Enforcement Unit had 172 cases under live investigation, many of which are complex and remain ongoing.

In 2022-2023, OFSI recorded 473 suspected breaches of financial sanctions (excluding oil price cap and counter-terrorism breaches). This is a significant increase on the 147 cases recorded in 2021-2022. This increase was expected given the scale of increased Russia sanctions, and OFSI’s increased enforcement capabilities. This data refers to the year in which a suspected breach is recorded, rather than the year in which the potential breach activity occurred. Recorded breaches includes cases which are self-reported, reported by a third party, and those independently generated by OFSI.

Over the course of the financial year, OFSI issued 7 warning letters in response to confirmed breaches which OFSI did not consider warranted public enforcement action, and 2 monetary penalties. 51 cases were closed with no further action, 44 of which related to Russia related sanctions breach reports. OFSI does not in all cases provide its view of whether a breach occurred or not, although many suspected breaches recorded by OFSI are considered not to be breaches of financial sanctions following further investigation. A number of cases in this period were referred to other agencies, including criminal and regulatory authorities. OFSI does not provide further breakdowns on referrals to criminal authorities”.

December 1, 2023March 15, 2024 by Mark Handley

UK – HMRC imposes three compound penalties for exports

The UK’s HMRC has today announced three new compound penalties imposed on experts for unlawful exports.

The first penalty was £67,000.31 imposed for the attempted export of goods in breach of the UK’s Russian sanctions. The person or company involved was not named.

The second penalty was for £1,000 and the attempted unlicensed export of dual-use goods. Again the penalised company was not named.

The third penalty was for £9,088.99 for exporting dual-use goods without a licence. This too was anonymised.

November 15, 2023January 11, 2024 by Mark Handley

United Kingdom – law firm fined for sanctions controls

A law firm which self-reported itself to the legal regulator in relation to three real estate transactions has been fined £101,357 by the Solicitors Regulation Authority.

The transactions did not actually involve sanctioned persons or entities, but screening had not been conducted at the time of the transactions and subsequently a possible link between one of the transactions and a designated person was identified.