In less than two weeks, we have seen Syria go from one of the most heavily sanctioned countries on the planet to a country well on the road to establishing normal trade relations with the Western world. The latest flurry of developments started on May 13, 2025, when President Trump caught much of the world by surprise when he said in a speech in Riyadh: “I will be ordering the cessation of sanctions against Syria…
From 14 May 2025, certain additional businesses are now subject to mandatory sanctions reporting obligations as changes to the definition of “relevant firms” for financial sanctions reporting purposes come into force. Consequently, High Value Dealers (HVDs), Art Market Participants (AMPs), Letting Agents and Insolvency Practitioners are now legally required to report to OFSI whether they have knowledge or reasonable cause to suspect the presence of sanctioned parties, or suspected financial sanctions breaches. These obligations were…
The Council has adopted a new decision on arms-related export controls, emphasizing the importance of responsible arms trade policies, cooperation and convergence among Member States, and the prevention of diversion to unauthorized users. On 14 April, the Council concluded its review of the EU framework for arms export control by adopting a decision (15 April 2025)[1] amending the Council’s Common Position 2008/944/CFSP, defining common rules governing the control of exports of military technology and equipment,…
On 21 March 2025, the UK Office of Financial Sanctions Implementation (“OFSI”) published its 2023-2024 annual review (see here). The report summarises OFSI’s activities for the 2023-24 financial year in the context of its aim to “Engage, Enhance, Enforce”. This involves industry engagement to improve understanding of UK sanctions, enhancing stakeholder service through increased hiring and investment, and enforcing compliance using a full range of actions and improved processes. Although OFSI’s report indicates that the…