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Economic Sanctions

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OTSI publishes its one-year update report, highlighting 146 breach assessments, 60 licence applications, enhanced reporting, whistleblower protections, and trade sanctions support for businesses

December 4, 2025

During the reporting period, OTSI received 60 licence applications, 12 of which were granted in full or partially, and 3 of which were refused.  OTSI also received 146 reports or referrals of potential breaches of trade sanctions, although no civil monetary penalties have been imposed by OTSI to date.  OTSI notes that its key priorities going forward including expanding its licensing remit and being more proactive around enforcement…

FCDO and OFSI will host a public webinar on 17 Dec 2025 at 11am GMT to discuss the transition from the UK Consolidated List to a single list for UK sanctions designations, coming into effect on 28 Jan 2026

December 4, 2025

This session offers a chance to understand the improvements being introduced and learn the steps you can take to prepare for the change. The webinar will be held on Wednesday, 17 December 2025, from 11:00 AM to 12:00 PM, where they will explain the upcoming transition from the UK Consolidated List to a single UK sanctions list, effective 28 January 2026…

Europol tightens the net on sanctions evasion, using intelligence and cross-border cooperation to help Member States target networks exploiting EU restrictions linked to Russia’s war in Ukraine

November 20, 2025

Europol establishes a new “Target Group Sanctions” unit within its European Financial and Economic Crime Centre (EFECC) and, together with European Anti-Fraud Office (OLAF), launches a joint initiative — Project Transporter — to support EU member states in uncovering and dismantling networks that facilitate sanctions evasion, including illicit trade routes, money laundering, document forgery and customs fraud…

US Treasury imposes new sanctions on a wide network of front‑companies, shipping facilitators and vessels involved in transporting Iranian oil, targeting operations that raise funds for Iran’s military

November 20, 2025

The U.S. Department of the Treasury – through its Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) designates a web of front companies, vessels, and shipping-services firms linked to Sepehr Energy Jahan, the oil-sale arm of Iran’s military, as sanctions targets under authorities that target Iran’s petroleum and petrochemical sectors. The action also expands sanctions to six additional vessels and includes entities involved in chartering and transporting Iranian crude — a move intended to disrupt Iran’s shadow-fleet export operations…

EU sanctions 10 Russian officials and judges for human-rights abuses and politically motivated prosecutions, imposing asset freezes and travel bans to hold them accountable for torture, deaths, and repression

November 20, 2025

The sanctions target high‑level officials in the prison system (Federal Penitentiary Service) in Rostov Oblast — including leaders of Pre‑Trial Detention Centre No. 2 — where detainees (including Ukrainian POWs) reportedly suffered beatings, starvation, denial of medical care, legal assistance, and coercive interrogations. Also sanctioned are members of the Russian judiciary involved in politically motivated prosecutions — including cases against activists and journalists linked to opposition figures…

OFAC sanctions former Canadian Olympian and his criminal network, freezing their assets and blocking U.S. transactions to disrupt a transnational cocaine-trafficking operation

November 19, 2025

The action targets Ryan James Wedding, a former Olympic snowboarder now listed among the FBI “Ten Most Wanted,” along with nine associates and nine affiliated entities, for running a violent, transnational cocaine-trafficking network that moves multi-ton shipments from Colombia and Mexico into North America, and allegedly orders murders abroad to protect the enterprise…

NCA issues Amber Alert warning state-backed networks, particularly from Russia, Iran, and North Korea, using shadow fleets and opaque corporate structures to evade sanctions on oil and other commodities

November 13, 2025

These networks exploit shell companies, complex ownership chains, and minimal transparency to conceal cargo origins, with a “red–blue” model linking red companies directly to sanctioned sources and blue companies to Western finance, insurance, and commodities markets. The alert identifies red flags such as sudden large-volume trading by new companies, limited corporate history, and registration in high-risk…

US Treasury sanctions the Democratic Karen Benevolent Army and affiliates for running cyber‑scam centres and human‑trafficking operations in Burma, freezing their U.S. assets

November 12, 2025

The action designates the DKBA, its senior leaders and affiliated companies for operating coercive scam compounds that target U.S. victims and generate revenue for the group’s military activities. It also freezes U.S.-linked assets, restricts financial dealings and contributes to broader U.S. efforts to disrupt cyber-enabled crime and human-rights abuses in Myanmar…

OFAC sanctions several key Hezbollah operatives and Lebanese exchange houses for funneling tens of millions from Iran to the group through unlicensed money transfers

November 6, 2025

The U.S. Department of the Treasury designates several individuals facilitating large-scale money movements from Iran to Hezbollah via Lebanon’s largely cash-based exchange houses, targeting tactics including illicit oil revenue and unlicensed currency conversion. The action underscores the blocking of property under Executive Order 13224, emphasising that U.S. persons are prohibited from engaging…

OFAC sanctions North Korean banks, IT firms, and individuals for cybercrime, labor‑fraud networks, and sanctions evasion, cutting off funding linked to the DPRK’s weapons programs

November 4, 2025

The U.S. Department of the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) designates eight individuals and two entities tied to the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea for facilitating the laundering of proceeds from cyber-enabled theft, cryptocurrency heists and illicit IT-worker schemes. These measures target the financial infrastructure enabling the DPRK’s proliferation of weapons of mass destruction and reinforce the blocking of property and assets under U.S. sanctions law…

US Treasury targets Mexico-based Human Smuggling Organisation and its leaders, sanctioning them for trafficking thousands of migrants and running interconnected drug and ML networks

October 30, 2025

The designation targets the Bhardwaj Human Smuggling Organization, its principal, three associates and sixteen affiliated companies for orchestrating large-scale migrant smuggling operations into the United States alongside related bribery, drug trafficking and money-laundering activity. Treasury highlights the organisation’s exploitation of vulnerable migrants and warns that financial institutions…

EU Council renews autonomous sanctions against ISIL/Da’esh and Al‑Qaeda until 31 Oct 2026, targeting 15 individuals and 7 groups with asset freezes, travel bans, and funding restrictions

October 27, 2025

The sanctions aim to counter terrorism by specifically targeting those who plan, finance, or propagate the ideology of these groups, underscoring the EU’s ongoing commitment to combating the threat posed by Al‑Qaeda, ISIL/Da’esh, and their affiliates…

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