Notice to members: New financial sanctions in relation to Russia and Ukraine

1 March 2022

As you may be aware, the Government has imposed new sanctions on Russia.

It is an important part of your Customer Due Diligence (CDD) to check for updated sanctions, as well as checking the Office of Financial Sanctions Implementations (OFSI) list of financial sanctions asset freeze targets.

If you know or suspect that a breach of financial sanctions has taken place, you are legally required to report this to OFSI as soon as possible. This includes situations where a person you are dealing with, whether directly or indirectly, is a designated person, if you hold any frozen assets, or if knowledge or suspicion of these arises while conducting your business.

You should consider any increased risks associated with transactions with Russia at this time. Access guidance on the sanctions here. You can find out more information about customer due diligence and risk assessments on a useful HMRC page here, and all of the IPA’s Anti-Money Laundering (AML) guidance and help can be found here.