Category: Sanctions

The U.K. government expanded Thursday the penalties imposed on individuals and entities linked to the Russian regime, declaring that they may no longer access legal expertise within Britain for economic benefit. In an effort to further deter Russia’s elite and powerful from contributing to President Vladimir Putin’s war chest, the U.K. declared that, going forward, wealthy Russian individuals and entities can no longer seek legal advice as a means to circumvent sanctions or otherwise conduct business.As Putin’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine has raged on for almost 18 months now, the British government has cracked down with 19 billion pounds (US$24…

Just hours after Kyrgyzstan’s head of national security declared on Thursday that no company in his country has violated U.S. sanctions against Russia, the U.S. Treasury announced sanctions against four Kyrgyz firms for doing exactly that. “Neither the Kyrgyz state itself, nor any state structures and companies are involved in the violation of the regime of compliance with the sanctions restrictions imposed by the United States and Western countries in relation to Russia,” said Kamchybek Tashiev, the deputy head of the Cabinet of Ministers and the head of the State Committee for National Security in the morning.“Entities based in the…

The £5.3m sale of a 12-bedroom mansion in Surrey involved in a case of alleged banking fraud is heading for the high court in a bid by lawyers to send some of the proceeds to one of Russia’s state-controlled banks. Lawyers believe some of the money can be transferred to one of Vladimir Putin’s state-controlled banks, the National Bank Trust, without any breach of sanctions. They are seeking a court order to allow the transfer. Ministers now face questions over why the bank has escaped sanctions to date, with a former boss at the bank claiming the money could be…

The U.S. Department of the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) today announced a settlement with Swedbank AS (Latvia) (“Swedbank Latvia”), a subsidiary of Swedbank AB (publ), headquartered in Stockholm, Sweden. Swedbank Latvia has agreed to remit $3,430,900 to settle its potential civil liability for 386 apparent violations of OFAC’s Crimea sanctions. Throughout 2015 and 2016, a customer of Swedbank Latvia used Swedbank Latvia’s e-banking platform from an internet protocol address in Crimea to send payments to persons in Crimea through U.S. correspondent banks. The settlement amount reflects OFAC’s determination that Swedbank Latvia’s apparent violations were not voluntarily self-disclosed…

Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and the subsequent sanctions that the U.S., European Union (EU) and other countries imposed against Russia in the wake of this act of aggression have been the focus of worldwide media attention since February 2022. In this installment of our Four Questions column, ACAMS Today speaks to George Voloshin, CAMS, CGSS, ACAMS’ global subject-matter expert (SME) on anti-financial crime (AFC), about potential scenarios for the Russian war. Voloshin, who specializes in sanctions, also discusses such topics as the effectiveness of the sanctions imposed against Russia, Russia’s complicated relationship with China and developments AFC professionals should look…

Bank of China has restricted yuan transactions between Russian clients and Western banks, per RBC. The bank made the move over fears of secondary sanctions from the West, a source told RBC. Russia has been using the Chinese yuan to get around Western sanctions. Russia has been using China’s yuan to get around sanctions — but at least one major Chinese bank has restricted transfers from Russia over fears of secondary sanctions from the West. The Bank of China, a major Chinese lender, has started restricting transactions using the yuan between Russian clients and lenders in the US, the European…

What are sanctions?Sanctions are penalties imposed by one country on another, to stop them acting aggressively or breaking international law.They are among the toughest actions nations can take, short of going to war, and can be imposed at very short notice. What are the diamond sanctions?The UK is banning the import of diamonds from Russia. The US set out similar plans to ban Russian diamonds last year and the EU has announced plans to do so.Russia earned more than £4bn in 2021 from diamond exports, the US says. However, most Russian diamonds are sent to countries like India to be…

Suspected Hizballah financier Nazem Ahmad has been sanctioned using domestic counter-terrorism powers.Powers used for the first time in order to curtail a suspected international terrorism financing network.The UK Government has announced a full asset freeze against an individual suspected of financing the terrorist group Hizballah. Nazem Ahmad has been sanctioned as part of continued efforts to prevent terrorism in the interests of national security. The move will also protect the integrity of the UK economy from terrorist financing threats. All assets and economic resources belonging to Ahmad in the UK have been frozen and no UK person may do business…

The European Union imposed this week sanctions on 25 individuals and eight companies for supporting the regime of Syria’s Bashar al-Assad. Among those designated were Gennady Timchenko’s Stroytransgaz, the Syrian state-owned company Gecopham, as well as STG-Logistics and STG-Engineering, two Russian entities operating in Syria that had signed contracts with Assad’s government to manage the port of Tartus and invest in phosphate mines in the Palmyra desert. All four of these companies were the subject of an OCCRP investigation published last year, which uncovered how sanctioned Syrian phosphate was ending up in the EU despite sanctions. The trade was enriching…

The UK should impose sanctions on human rights abusers in senior Sudanese military positions as well as designate the Wagner group operating in Sudan as a terrorist group, a report from the all-party group on Sudan has urged. The group, including the Conservative former Africa minister Vicky Ford, said on Wednesday the west has allowed impunity to become the norm, and the failure to bring to justice many of those responsible for the genocide in Darfur 20 years ago has allowed the same militia to regroup and form part of the forces now blocking democracy in the country. The report…

Eugene Shvidler wants expedited court hearing to hear his claim that impounding his jets was wrong. A Russian-born billionaire who is a close associate of the former owner of Chelsea FC, Roman Abramovich, has launched a legal challenge against UK government sanctions imposed on him in response to Vladimir Putin’s invasion of Ukraine. The case is the first to be launched in the British courts by an individual with sanctions following the invasion of Ukraine, and could serve as a test case for other oligarchs seeking to overturn restrictions such as travel bans or asset freezes. Eugene Shvidler has accused…

Three Russian oligarchs under sanctions are among those to declare they own more than £35m of UK property through the British Virgin Islands, Cyprus and Russia, the Guardian has found. Alexander Frolov, a billionaire and associate of Roman Abramovich, is revealed as the owner of a mansion in Weybridge in Surrey bought for £9.8m in 2008 and a flat in Knightsbridge bought for £15.4m via the BVI. Frolov, who owns an estimated 10% stake in Evraz, a UK-incorporated mining company, was placed under sanctions last year along with co-owners Abramovich and Alexander Abramov. The UK government said he was involved…

WASHINGTON – Today, the U.S. Department of the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) imposed full blocking sanctions against 22 individuals and entities across multiple countries related to a sanctions evasion network supporting Russia’s military-industrial complex. Today’s action, taken pursuant to Executive Order (E.O.) 14024, are part of the U.S. strategy to methodically and intensively target sanctions evasion efforts around the globe, close down key backfilling channels, expose facilitators and enablers, and limit Russia’s access to revenue needed to wage its brutal war in Ukraine. Over the last year, Treasury has sanctioned over 100 individuals and entities engaging in…

The UK is placing further sanctions on regime officials in Iran today, including on Deputy Prosecutor General Ahmad Fazelian. These sanctions, alongside designations by the European Union and the United States, demonstrate the international community’s unified condemnation of the horrific violence the Iranian regime is inflicting on its own people, including the execution of dual British-Iranian national Alireza Akbari. Alongside the Prosecutor General in Iran, whom the UK sanctioned last week, Fazelian is responsible for a judicial system characterised by unfair trials and egregious punishments, including use of the death penalty for political purposes. Last week Alireza Akbari tragically became a…

US will apply designation in the coming days, says national security council spokesman, imposing new sanctions on the group The US will designate the Russian mercenary group Wagner as a “significant transnational criminal organization”, imposing further sanctions on the military contractor which has been aiding Moscow in its invasion of Ukraine. The White House national security council spokesman, John Kirby, announced on Friday that the treasury will apply the new designation in the coming days, putting it in the same category as Italian mafia groups and Japanese and Russian organized crime. The designation will allow the wider application of sanctions…

Russian oligarchs and others facing sanctions can now access up to £1 million of their Jersey-based funds to pay outstanding bills to local lawyers. The island’s External Relations Minister has issued a new ‘general licence’, which allows legal firms who have represented clients facing international sanctions to be paid more easily. While people linked to the regimes in Russia have had their financial assets in Jersey frozen since the country invaded Ukraine in February, they have still been able to get legal advice or representation – but have not been able to pay their bills without an individual licence from…

Russia’s dominant lender Sberbank will be forced to close its office in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) early next year, First Deputy Chairman Alexander Vedyakhin said on Monday, blaming sanctions pressure. Sweeping Western sanctions targeted Russia’s financial system after Moscow sent tens of thousands of troops into Ukraine on Feb. 24. Sberbank is one of several major Russian banks to have been blocked from the international SWIFT payments system and some senior executives have been personally hit by sanctions. “Unfortunately, in the context of sanctions restrictions, we are facing serious constraints on our SberInvest Middle East office in Abu Dhabi…

The European Union is aiming to ban imports of several steel products from Russia and outlaw the export of certain semiconductors to Russia, according to the European Commission’s latest sanctions proposal, seen by POLITICO. One item left off the list, however, is Russian diamonds — an omission that will make Belgium and its robust diamond industry happy. Instead, the Commission wants to bar the import of “certain elements used in the jewellery industry such as stones and precious metals.” It also wants to sanction Alrosa, Russia’s largest diamond mining firm. The draft text, which the Commission presented to EU ambassadors…

The Dutch city of The Hague on Thursday said it would ask for a temporary exemption of EU sanctions against Russia, as it struggles to find a replacement for its contract with Russian gas supplier Gazprom in time. Sanctions imposed by the European Union against Russia following its invasion of Ukraine order governments and other public bodies to end existing contracts with Russian companies by October 10. For The Hague, this means it has to find a new supplier of gas to replace its existing agreement with Gazprom. The city said it held an EU-wide tender in June and July,…

Countries must secure new and emerging gateways that are used to circumvent sanctions, as North Korea’s exploitation of cryptocurrency continues. Blockchain analytics companies are identifying potential links between North Korea and the Harmony Bridge Exploit that occurred in June 2022. In this cyber attack, hackers stole $100 million worth of cryptocurrency, and began transferring funds in a similar manner to North Korea’s approach following the Ronin Bridge hack in March 2022. This latest attack reinforces the need for countries to monitor the rise of new cryptocurrency gateways that allow North Korea to circumvent sanctions and finance its nuclear weapons programme.…

The son of a globe-trotting Canadian communist, Eric Whyte moved to the Soviet Union as a boy in 1966, and was educated at a prestigious school outside Moscow. Those are nearly all of the scant details publicly available about his life –– even “Champagne and Meatballs,” a book-length memoir by Whyte’s late father, Bert, only mentions his birth. But while Whyte maintains a low profile, leaked corporate documents offer a clue about his activities over the past decade or so: He appears to be a frontman for sanctioned Russian banker Andrei Kostin. Whyte owns companies registered in secretive offshore financial…

The Justice Department is looking to enlist the private sector in its efforts to enforce U.S. sanctions on countries such as Russia, a top official said. The agency has long worked to police the restrictions that the U.S. has placed on countries such as Iran or North Korea, but it has dialed up its efforts following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, Deputy Attorney General Lisa Monaco said Thursday. The Justice Department is adding resources and looking for new ways to enforce sanctions, said Ms. Monaco, who spoke via video at a conference hosted by Global Investigations Review in London. The agency…

U.S. sanctions in recent months have hammered a handful of cryptocurrency services used by ransomware groups, suggesting Washington can effectively target some tools hackers use to convert digital ransom payments into cash. The Treasury Department since last year has sanctioned at least three Russia-based crypto exchanges, as well as a mixing service hackers allegedly used to help launder dirty money, barring U.S. companies from transacting with them. “Sanctions have been catastrophic to their business, severely damaging their operations,” said Jackie Koven, head of cyber threat intelligence at Chainalysis Inc., which analyzes crypto transactions across public ledgers known as blockchains. Ms.…

European court of justice deciding appeal filed by ‘one of Putin’s favourite oligarchs’ Sanctions imposed on the Russian billionaire Alisher Usmanov and his two sisters could be suspended after a legal challenge at the European court of justice by the businessman once described as one of Vladimir Putin’s “favourite oligarchs”. Usmanov, as well as his sisters Saodat Narzieva and Gulbakhor Ismailova, each filed separate legal appeals in April in an attempt to overturn sanctions that have blocked them from travelling across the EU or making use of assets located in member states, including a $600m (£484m) yacht. The Guardian understands…

The son of a Russian billionaire facing sanctions for supporting the dictator who runs Belarus has been linked to a £160m portfolio of London properties. Said Gutseriev, a 34-year-old businessman with British and Russian nationality, appears to have spent years amassing a collection of at least seven properties in central London. They range from large office buildings in the City to a pair of £17m townhouses in south Kensington knocked together to make one residence. Said’s father, Mikhail Gutseriev, was blacklisted last year, by the EU in June and the UK in August, months after the violent repression of protests…

The Victoria and Albert Museum is in possession of a Fabergé Egg belonging to a sanctioned oligarch. The ornament, owned by Viktor Vekselberg, is on loan to the London museum. The institution could end up breaching sanctions if it’s returned to Vekselberg, however. A UK museum, which is in possession of a Fabergé Egg belonging to a sanctioned Russian oligarch, could breach sanctions if it returns it to him. iNews reported the story first. Viktor Vekselberg acquired the very first Fabergé Egg – an elaborately decorated ornament – in 2004, according to The Art Newspaper. It was commissioned in 1885…

Today, the Commission proposes a new Directive on Asset Recovery and Confiscation. It includes rules on asset recovery from tracing and identification, through freezing and management, to confiscation of assets. The Asset Recovery and Confiscation Directive proposes to modernise EU rules on asset recovery and confiscation by: Ensuring that financial investigations aimed at tracing illicit assets are swiftly launched in all complex criminal investigations against organised crime. Providing Asset Recovery Offices with the powers and information to swiftly trace and identify criminal assets, including by urgently freezing property. Establishing Asset Management Offices to ensure that frozen property does not lose…

An EU-wide ban on property transactions with Russian nationals has been added to the Commission’s sixth package of sanctions. In the proposal, the European Commission intends to stop property deals with Russian individuals, residents and entities — prohibiting the sale or transfer, directly or indirectly of ownership rights in property in the bloc. It is designed to apply to land and dwellings located “within the territory of the Union or units in collective investment undertakings providing exposure to such immovable property.” The latest EU action targets both the Russian state and oligarchs and for the first time specifically targets the…

The Commission for Security and Cooperation in Europe, otherwise known as the Helsinki Commission, has issued hard-hitting criticism of Switzerland’s perceived role in hiding Russian assets. “Long known as a destination for war criminals and kleptocrats to stash their plunder, Switzerland is a leading enabler of Russian dictator Vladimir Putin and his cronies. After looting Russia, Putin and his oligarchs use Swiss secrecy laws to hide and protect the proceeds of their crimes,” the body stated. The Commission’s hearing on Thursday heard testimony from Pieth, Miranda Patrucic, deputy editor in chief at the Organized Crime and Corruption Reporting Project and…