UK Weekly Sanctions Update - Week of September 23, 2024

In this weekly update, we summarise the most notable updates in the UK sanctions world. If you have any questions in respect of any of the developments set out below, please do not hesitate to contact a member of our London Global and Government Trade team listed above.

1. Russia Sanctions

• Office of Financial Sanctions Implementation (OFSI) issues monetary penalty for breaches of Russia sanctions: On September 27, 2024, OFSI published details of a £15,000 monetary penalty imposed against Integral Concierge Services Limited ("ICSL") for breaches of the Russia (Sanctions) (EU Exit) Regulations 2019.  The penalty related to 26 payments made or received by ICSL in 2022 and 2023 in connection with property management services it provided to a UK assets freeze target.  ICSL also breached the reporting requirements under certain general licences issues by OFSI. (Report_of_Penalty_for_Breach_of_Financial_Sanctions_-_ICSL.pdf (publishing.service.gov.uk)).
• UK specifies 5 ships and adds 2 new entries to the UK sanctions list under the Russia sanctions regime: On September 26, 2024, the UK Government specified 5 ships and added two entities involved in Russia’s LNG sector, namely Ocean Speedstar Solutions OPC PVT Ltd and White Fox Ship management FZCO, under the Russia sanctions regime.  According to the FCDO, these sanctions build upon the sanctions against the Arctic LNG 2 project by targeting ships and entities that engage with "projects important to Russia's future energy production." (Notice_Russia_260924.pdf (publishing.service.gov.uk); UK constrains Russia’s future LNG plans  - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk)).

2. Other Sanctions

• UK House of Commons publishes Research Briefing on sanctions against countries supporting Russia’s invasion of Ukraine: On September 25, 2024, the UK House of Commons published a research briefing on sanctions against countries supporting Russia’ invasion of Ukraine.  The briefing describes efforts taken to tackle sanctions evasion and describes measures taken against countries providing military support to Russia, with a focus on Belarus, Iran, North Korea and China. (https://researchbriefings.files.parliament.uk/documents/CBP-10048/CBP-10048.pdf).