UK to Increase Sanction Enforcement Powers and Launch New Offce of Financial Sanctions Implementation (OFSI)

In a bid to bring the UK in line with the US Treasury Department’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC), the UK government has proposed a significant increase in the effectiveness of sanction enforcement powers. Legislation was put before parliament in February in the form of the Policing and Crime Bill. The new legislation would increase the available prison sentences for the majority of sanctions violations from six to 12 months for summary convictions, and from two to seven years for conviction on indictment. The Treasury would also receive new powers to levy civil fines on those guilty of sanctions breaches. See here for more details on OFSI’s mandates.