On 17 July 2025, the UK Office of Financial Sanctions Implementation (“OFSI”) launched a series of new online forms for parties looking to submit licence applications or report information such as suspected breaches of financial sanctions. The new forms aim to streamline the submission process and to avoid incomplete or incorrect submissions through the introduction of mandatory fields and built-in guidance notes, thereby reducing the need for follow-up questions and enabling OFSI to provide…
The UK Parliament has recently introduced the Arms Trade (Inquiry and Suspension) Bill (the “Bill”), which aims to ensure that arms sold to foreign states are not used in violation of international law. It is currently pending a second reading in the House of Commons. The Bill’s primary objective is to ensure that the UK’s arms exports comply with international law and it makes provision for an independent inquiry into (i) the end use of…
On 14 October 2024, the EU designated seven individuals and seven entities responsible for the development and transfer of drones, missiles and related technology to Russia, and to armed groups and entities undermining peace and security in the Middle East and the Red Sea region. These include in particular three Iranian airlines, Iran Air, Mahan Air and Saha Airlines. The Regulation imposing the EU designations is available here. The individuals and entities are subject to asset freezes…
On August 9, 2024, the US, EU, UK and Canada released a joint statement announcing new sanctions against Belarus, referring to the fourth anniversary of fraudulent presidential elections in Belarus that resulted in Alexander Lukashenko remaining in power. These authorities cited Belarus’s support for Russia’s war of aggression against Ukraine and ongoing human rights abuses in Belarus as the motivations for the latest round of sanctions. Members of our global sanctions team in the US,…