Over 100 UK companies admit to breaching Russia sanctions
Nearly 130 UK companies have admitted to breaching Russia-related sanctions, new data has revealed, raising the prospect of a wave of corporate penalties being issued by the UK’s sanctions enforcement agency.
Similar to the European Union and the US, the UK government modified its sanctions regime after Russia invaded Ukraine in February 2022.
The UK added hundreds of Russia-affiliated individuals and entities to its list, which now stands with more than 1,600 individuals and companies named.
Since then 127 UK companies have voluntarily disclosed that they breached Russia-related sanctions, according to a response to a freedom information request obtained by law firm Pinsent Masons.
No company names or industries were mentioned in the request.
The voluntary disclosures were made to the Office of Financial Sanction Implementation (OFSI), which is responsible for monitoring UK corporate compliance with financial sanctions and investigating suspected breaches.
The OFSI has the ability to hit companies and individuals who breach the sanction list with fines of up to £1m or a prison sentence of up to seven years.
Stacy Keen, a partner at Pinsent Masons, urged businesses to “consider coming clean if they think they may have been doing business with sanctioned entities” by informing either the OFSI or HMRC to increase the chances they can “greatly reduce” the potential penalty they face.
A spokesperson for the OFSI said: “We of course consider any relevant efforts and checks undertaken as a mitigating factor when assessing any possible enforcement action,” adding that it was “not trying to unduly penalise honest mistakes”.
“We will respond to non-compliance wherever it takes place and respond to all reports of suspected breaches that we receive, using our legal powers to require information to make an informed assessment and to make appropriate and proportionate decisions on enforcement action,” the spokesperson added.
