- Chief Compliance Officer and VP of Legal Affairs, Arrow Electronics
By 
Kyle Brasseur2023-08-31T15:09:00
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 (OFSI) first use of its disclosure enforcement powers acquired last year.
Wise avoided a penalty in the case, which related to a cash withdrawal of 250 pounds (U.S. $317) made from a business account held by a company owned or controlled by a person designated under Russian sanctions. Wise self-reported the incident and has improved the aspects of its sanctions compliance process that led to the breach occurring, said OFSI in its disclosure notice published Thursday.
In response to Russia’s February 2022 invasion of Ukraine, OFSI was granted authority to publish details from cases where financial sanctions breaches are not serious enough to merit civil penalties.
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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.
The recent decision by the U.K. Office of Financial Sanctions Implementation to disclose details of how Wise Payments 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.
RTX Corp., the parent company of Raytheon, disclosed in a public filing it has reserved $1.24 billion to resolve legacy legal matters with the Department of Justice, Securities and Exchange Commission, and Department of State.
The U.K. Financial Conduct Authority issued a fine of $4.5 million (3.5 million pounds) against a U.K.-based subsidiary of crypto platform Coinbase for providing services to high-risk customers in violation of FCA rules.
Admera Health agreed to pay more than $5.5 million to resolve allegations first brought by two whistleblowers that it paid kickbacks to third-party contractors, the Department of Justice said.
