- Chief Compliance Officer and VP of Legal Affairs, Arrow Electronics
By 
Neil Hodge2023-09-28T19:14:00
The recent decision by a U.K. regulator to disclose details of how a payments firm failed to stop an individual from obtaining cash while subject to Russian sanctions has ignited debate about whether the agency is taking the right enforcement approach.
Under the Economic Crime (Transparency and Enforcement) Act 2022, the U.K.’s Office of Financial Sanctions Implementation (OFSI) gained a “disclosure enforcement power” allowing it to publish details of financial sanctions breaches—including the person/entity who committed the breaches—in cases where it decided the occurrence of noncompliance was not serious enough to justify a civil penalty.
On Aug. 31, OFSI used this power for the first time to provide details of a “moderately severe” breach—the withdrawal of just 250 pounds (U.S. $305) from a business account with Wise Payments held by a company owned or controlled by a person designated under Russian sanctions.
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The U.K. government is set to establish a new agency to enforce trade sanctions and provide compliance guidance to businesses regarding the country’s sanctions regimes.
U.K. companies might be wary of informing regulators they have potentially violated sanctions against Russia over fears they could be publicly criticized for even minor breaches.
U.K.-based foreign exchange service Wise Payments was cited for breaching the country’s sanctions levied against Russia as part of the Office of Financial Sanctions Implementation’s first use of its disclosure enforcement powers acquired last year.
TikTok is suspending new features amid an inquiry by the European Commission into its compliance with the Digital Services Act, all while responding to a U.S. ban just signed into law.
The Czech Republic’s data protection authority issued a fine of 351 million Czech koruna (U.S. $15 million) against antivirus software vendor Avast for alleged violations of the General Data Protection Regulation.
Consolidated Nuclear Security agreed to pay $18.4 million to settle alleged False Claims Act violations regarding the submission of timecards for unworked hours to the National Nuclear Security Administration.
