Financial sanctions general guidance
General guidance for UK financial sanctions
Documents
Details
General guidance for UK financial sanctions covering:
- Overview of financial sanctions
- Scope of financial sanctions
- Financial sanctions restrictions
- Ownership and control
- Reporting obligations
- Exceptions and licensing
- Compliance and enforcement
- Challenging designations
Last updated 13 May 2024 + show all updates
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Definitions for extraordinary situations and extraordinary expenses in OFSI’s approach to licensing grounds section amended.
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First published.
Update history
2026-05-12 10:26
Section 6.21 amended.
2026-01-28 12:39
Updated to reflect the closure of the OFSI Consolidated List on 28 January 2026. The UK Sanctions List is now the only source for all UK sanctions designations.
2025-11-18 09:39
Divest investors definition amended.
2025-09-22 14:53
Section 6.21 (HM Treasury debt exception) amended to clarify that the reference in the exception to an obligation owed by HM Treasury to a UN DP should also include an obligation owed by any other person to the UN DP in respect of HM Treasury debt.
2025-07-24 10:36
Designated Money Service Businesses added to section 6.6.
2025-07-18 11:11
Online form link added for sections 5.1.3, 5.3, 6.12
2025-07-09 18:01
Section 6.21 added
2025-06-27 09:25
Addition to General guidance – section 5.12 – Confidential Reporting to OFSI
2025-03-18 15:00
Link added for signing up to the new joint UK sanctions email alert service, provided by the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office (FCDO), the Office of Financial Sanctions Implementation (OFSI) and the Office of Trade Sanctions Implementation (OTSI).
2024-12-19 10:56
Section 1.2 table updated to include OTSI.
2024-11-18 13:06
Section 6.9 General licences updated
2024-11-14 16:53
UK financial sanctions general guidance updated
2024-05-16 15:30
Guidance amended to include reference for inclusion of designated persons subject to the reporting requirements in Regulation 38A of the Belarus Regulations and monetary penalties for breaches of reporting obligations.
2024-05-15 10:12
A correction has been made in relation to section 4.1 Ownership and control. Specifically, text in the second example has been corrected to reflect the exercise of control between Person A and Person B.
2024-05-13 16:07
Definitions for extraordinary situations and extraordinary expenses in OFSI’s approach to licensing grounds section amended.
2024-02-13 11:22
First published.