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Economic Sanctions

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U.S. Treasury sanctions a transnational network recruiting Colombians for Sudan’s civil war, freezing assets and blocking transactions to halt foreign conflict financing

December 9, 2025

OFAC imposed sanctions on four individuals and four entities for their roles in fueling the civil war in Sudan, a conflict that has provoked the world’s worst ongoing humanitarian crisis.  This transnational network—primarily composed of Colombian nationals and companies—recruits former Colombian military personnel and trains soldiers, including children, to fight for the Sudanese paramilitary group known as the Rapid Support Forces (RSF)…

OFAC imposes a $7.1M penalty on Gracetown Inc. for repeatedly violating U.S. Russia-related sanctions and failing to report blocked assets tied to a sanctioned Russian oligarch

December 4, 2025

OFAC finds that Gracetown continued to receive payments on behalf of a company ultimately owned by sanctioned Russian oligarch Oleg Deripaska — despite explicit notice that conducting such transactions was prohibited — and also failed to timely report blocked assets in its possession. The enforcement action, approaching the statutory maximum, underscores Treasury’s commitment to holding U.S. persons accountable for compliance with sanctions programs and reporting obligations.

UK imposes landmark counter-terrorism sanctions on a financier and key Hamas-linked organisation, freezing assets and disrupting funding flows to protect national security

December 4, 2025

The action designates Mohammed Abu Shamala and the Lebanon-based al-Shahid Social Association under the UK’s counter-terrorism sanctions regime, freezing their assets and prohibiting UK persons from providing funds, economic resources or financial services to them. It marks the first time the UK has used its autonomous terrorism sanctions powers to target entities operating outside conflict zones, signalling a strengthened effort to cut off global financial support networks linked to Hamas…

UK imposes sanctions on a Russian intelligence agency linked to the Skripal poisonings, freezing its assets and prohibiting UK dealings to hold Russia accountable for state-sponsored chemical attacks

December 4, 2025

UK announces sanctions against the GRU as Dawn Sturgess Inquiry report finds Putin personally ordered their activity in Salisbury in 2018. The GRU, Russia’s military intelligence agency, is now sanctioned in its entirety by the UK. GRU agents carry out Putin’s bidding, seeking to destabilise Ukraine and attempting to sow chaos and disorder across Europe. The action comes as the Dawn Sturgess Inquiry publishes its final report into the tragic circumstances surrounding Dawn Sturgess’s death in Salisbury in 2018…

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…

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