Financial sanctions

Financial sanctions

This subtopic contains guidance on the financial sanctions regime, and how it applies to law firms, and the systems and controls required to help firms comply. It contains flowcharts covering key processes and helpful checklists. Finally, it contains Precedents covering senior management responsibility, risk assessment, policies, screening, breaches, training and monitoring.

Understanding the financial sanctions regime

Sanctions are international measures aimed at:

•
encouraging a change in the behaviour of a particular country or regime
•
applying pressure on particular countries or regimes to comply with certain objectives
•
preventing and suppressing terrorist financing

They are also used as a last-resort enforcement tool when international peace and security has been threatened.

A designated person, entity or regime subject to sanctions that are effective in the UK is known as a 'target'.

Sanctions may be imposed by the United Nations (UN) Security Council or HM Treasury.

See Practice Note: Understanding the financial sanctions regime.

The financial sanctions regime v the anti-money laundering regime

Anti-money laundering (AML), counter-terrorist financing (CTF) and counter-proliferation financing requirements are familiar ground for most law firms (if not, see our AML,

To view the latest version of this document and thousands of others like it, sign-in with LexisNexis or register for a free trial.

TAKE A FREE TRIAL

Latest Practice Compliance News

HM Treasury issues advisory on Oil Price Cap evasion tactics

HM Treasury (HMT)and the Office of Financial Sanctions Implementation (OFSI) have released an advisory concerning the Oil Price Cap (OPC) regime. The guidance specifically addresses evasion strategies involving the manipulation of product origin through the use of fabricated and falsified Certificates of Origin (CO). This advisory aims to alert relevant parties to the risks associated with such practices and to enhance compliance efforts within the oil trade sector.

Practice Compliance weekly highlights—21 November 2024

This week's edition of Practice Compliance weekly highlights includes: the latest financial sanctions updates, three new consultations from the Solicitors Regulation Authority (SRA) on client money management and consumer protection, initiation of a consultation for legal regulators to combat economic crime by the Legal Services Board (LSB), and new guidance from the SRA on internal investigations, together with a suite of guidance for in-house solicitors.

New Practice Compliance forecast as at 20 November 2024

Our new Practice Compliance forecast (as at 20 November 2024) is now live. This month we report on items including: (1) publication of the long-awaited government guidance on the failure to prevent fraud offence; (2) consultation by the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) on proposed changes to FATF Standards and updates to grey listing criteria by FATF to increase focus on risk; (3) Transparency proposals and future Scheme Rules changes by the Legal Ombudsman (LeO), and (4) SRA consultation on the publication of regulatory decisions, updates to financial penalty regime and client money in legal services.