UK imposes only one fine for violation of sanctions against russia

Speaking to the select committee of the Ministry of Finance, the head of the economic crime unit said that despite the introduction of the broadest set of sanctions against russia, the organisation has imposed only one fine so far.

That fine, imposed on Integral Concierge Services (ICSL), was imposed in September after it emerged that ICSL had helped a sanctioned person transfer and receive money.

No other fines have been imposed so far, but Giles Thomson, director of the Treasury's Economic Crime and Sanctions Department, acknowledged that this is a small number given the scale of the sanctions.

‘I would certainly be very disappointed if we came back to you and your committee in a year's time and we only had a £15,000 fine,’ he said.

‘I think it's lower than we would like at the moment, and we hope that more cases will come forward that will give us a fuller picture of our enforcement actions,’ the official added.

The Office of Financial Sanctions Implementation (OFSI) only deals with financial sanctions violations - in other words, cash flows, not goods flows. However, the small size of the fine is impressive given the scale of the sanctions regime.

The OFSI currently has a staff of 150 people dedicated to dealing with sanctions violators.

Source: Sky News