UK expands sanctions reporting requirements

On 8 August, new regulations will come into force in the UK which will expand requirements to inform HM Treasury of known or suspected sanctions breaches. Currently the requirements apply only to financial institutions, but the European Union Financial Sanctions (Amendment of Information Provisions) Regulations 2017 apply them to “certain businesses and professions” including “independent legal professionals”, law firms, accountants, estate agents and others. The businesses and professions included in the new regulations will commit an offence if they do not inform HMT if they know or have reasonable cause to suspect that a person has committed a sanctions offence or is a person who is the subject of an asset freeze.

The explanatory memorandum is here. The regulations have not been subject to consultation or parliamentary scrutiny or debate and have been passed by the negative resolution procedure without an impact assessment.