The Office of Financial Sanctions
Implementation has launched a call for evidence to
seek industry's views on how UK financial sanctions regulations
on ownership and control are applied in practice, including how
firms implement the regulations and where they face
challenges.
The ownership and control test is
designed to stop sanctioned individuals and entities from
sidestepping UK sanctions by hiding behind complex company
structures, trusts or proxies. However, industry representatives
report to OFSI that assessing the ability of a designated person
to control an entity – even if they are not actively doing so –
can be difficult in practice and may create additional costs and
legal risk.
We are therefore asking firms,
representative bodies and other interested stakeholders
to share evidence and practical examples
of:
-
How often ‘hypothetical control' is
present in real financial
sanctions cases;
-
The impact it has on compliance
costs, legal risk and business decisions (including
derisking);
-
Whether existing legal concepts and
typologies of control are helpful in applying ownership and
control regulations.
This information will help us
understand whether the current approach is as clear, effective
and proportionate as it should be, so that sanctions remain tough
on those they target while being workable for legitimate
businesses.
The Call for Evidence is open
until 13th April 2026.
Read the full call
for evidence and how to respond here.
Read more about the background and scope of the exercise in our
blog here.
