The UK Industry and Economic Security Minister, Nusrat Ghani, has today announced the creation of a new government unit to “crack down” on companies evading sanctions; the Office of Trade Sanctions Implementation (OTSI). The OTSI will launch in early 2024 once the new legal requirements are in place and will operate alongside the existing work the government is doing to ensure UK trade sanctions are adhered to. The unit will be responsible for civil enforcement of…
On 22 August, it was reported that the UK Government is considering the proscription of the Wagner group as a terrorist organisation under the Terrorism Act 2000. The Wagner group is a collection of individuals and entities globally making up the ‘Wagner Network’, which is engaged in military, economic, political, and influencing operations. They are known for being a private military company. Proscribing Wagner as a terrorist organisation would put it in the same legal…
On December 3, 2022, G7 members formally set the highly anticipated price cap on Russian oil at 60 USD per barrel. This price cap applies to crude oil, petroleum oils, and oils obtained from bituminous minerals which originate in or are exported from Russia. Below we summarize (1) some of the key aspects of the G7’s price cap, and (2) the measures taken to implement the price cap by the EU,US, UK, Japan and Canada.…
On 10 February 2022, the UK Government published amendments to its Russian sanctions programme, enabling it to designate a wide variety of parties “involved in […] obtaining a benefit from or supporting the Government of Russia”. No new designations have been made at this time, but the UK Government has previously indicated that the powers are intended to be used in response to any Russian incursion into Ukraine. The amendment came into force at 5pm…