The Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO) and the Office of Financial Sanctions Implementation (OFSI) have updated the Cyber sanctions: guidance, the Chemical weapons sanctions: guidance, the Guinea sanctions: guidance, the Syria sanctions: guidance and the Unauthorised drilling activities sanctions: guidance to include guidance on director disqualification and designation.

The Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO) and the Office of Financial Sanctions Implementation (OFSI) have updated the statutory guidance on UK sanctions regimes under the Sanctions and Anti-Money Laundering Act 2018 (SAMLA 2018) to reflect the Sanctions (EU Exit) (Miscellaneous Amendments) (No.2) Regulations 2024, SI 2024/1157 which increase OFSI’s ability to gather intelligence on industry’s compliance with financial sanctions and strengthens OFSI’s enforcement powers.

The Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO) and the Office of Financial Sanctions Implementation have announced 13 new entries under the Global Anti-Corruption Sanctions Regulations 2021, SI 2021/488. The designations target individuals and entities in Moldova, Georgia and Guatemala involved in corruption, including the pro-Kremlin Evrazia organisation, two Georgian judicial officials and seven Guatemalan officials including former President Giammattei. The sanctions impose asset freezes and UK travel bans on the designated persons.

The Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office (FCDO) has imposed the UK’s most extensive sanctions to date against Russia to curtail revenues financing President, Vladimir Putin's, war in Ukraine. Announced by the Foreign Secretary, Yvette Cooper, the measures include 90 new sanctions targeting oil giants Rosneft and Lukoil, four Chinese oil terminals, 44 vessels in Russia’s ‘shadow fleet’, Nayara Energy Limited, seven liquified natural gas tankers, and China’s Beihai LNG terminal. The government also introduced a ban on imports of oil products refined in third countries from Russian-origin crude, aiming to remove Russian oil from global markets and weaken the Kremlin’s energy income. Additional sanctions were placed on companies supplying electronics used in Russian weapons systems. According to the Office of Financial Sanctions Implementation’s Annual Review 2024–25, UK sanctions have frozen £28.7bn in Russian assets since February 2022.

The Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO) has announced a new package of UK sanctions targeting cryptocurrency exchanges and the Kremlin-backed ‘A7 network’, used by Russia to evade existing restrictions and channel funds into its war economy against Ukraine. The measures are intended to address Russia’s increasing use of ‘dark networks and shadow financial systems’ to bypass sanctions and disrupt associated financial flows. The sanctions include 18 designations targeting Russia’s illicit financial infrastructure, including A7-linked individuals, a Kyrgyz bank suspected of facilitating payments for the network and three Georgian companies operating Russia-focused exchanges seeking to evade sanctions. The A7 network is described as a system designed to bypass Western sanctions, finance military procurement and process funds from the sale of oil and is reported to have moved more than USD90 billion in the past year. The FCDO has also published a list of entities and individuals designated on 26 May 2026 under the Russia (Sanctions) (EU Exit) Regulations 2019, SI 2019/855, including entities and individuals involved in supporting the Russian financial sector and making available funds, economic resources, goods or technology to individuals and entities in the Russian financial sector.

The Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office (FCDO) has announced 50 new sanctions targeting individuals and businesses that are helping to sustain the Russian invasion of Ukraine, including munitions manufacturers, electronics companies, and diamond and oil traders. The new sanctions aim to target key sources of revenue for Russian and impact the funding available for Russia. The FCDO has also announced the UK Sanctions Strategy outlining the government’s approach to sanctions and how sanctions will address threats and malign activity.

The Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office (FCDO) has announced that the UK government will work with the international community to combat illicit flows of money through increased transparency of company ownership. The UK government is leading a global call to action and contributing £2m in funding to trust funds managed by the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund which is to be announced by the UK Foreign Secretary and Minister for Development and Africa, Andrew Mitchell, at the World Bank Spring Meetings. The FDCO has said that the UK intends to support low-income countries in implementing registers of company ownership in the hopes it will provide greater transparency about who owns, controls or benefits from companies which could help prevent corruption.

The Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office (FCDO) has announced the UK’s package of sanctions against ten individuals and one organisation in Iran for enabling and facilitating recent human rights violations against peaceful protestors. These measures form part of the UK’s commitment to hold the Iranian authorities to account following widespread brutality and violence. The Law Enforcement Forces of the Islamic Republic of Iran (FARAJA) was sanctioned for its prominent role in policing protests in Iran and is subject to an immediate director disqualification and asset freeze, while the designated individuals—including the Minister of the Interior, several Police Chiefs, Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) commanders, judges and an Iranian businessman—are subject to immediate asset freezes, travel bans and director disqualifications. The measures follow earlier commitments by the Prime Minister and the Foreign Secretary, recent human rights sanctions by the EU and US, and international condemnation by the G7 and EU High Representative, forming part of more than 550 existing UK sanctions against Iranian individuals and entities for human rights violations.

The Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO) has announced that the UK has sanctioned six individuals in charge of the IK-3 Arctic Penal Colony ‘Polar Wolf’ where Alexei Navalny died on 16 February 2024, following mistreatment by Russian authorities. The sanctioned individuals include Head, Colonel Vadim Konstantinovich Kalinin and Deputy Heads Lieutenant Colonels Sergey Nikolaevich Korzhov, Vasily Alexandrovich Vydrin, Vladimir Ivanovich Pilipchik, Aleksandr Vladimirovich Golyakov and Colonel Aleksandr Valerievich Obraztsov. Asset freezes and travels bans will apply to all six individuals and the UK has also called for Navalny’s body to be released to his family along with a ‘full and transparent investigation’.

The Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office (FCDO) has announced that the Office of Financial Sanctions Implementation (OFSI) Consolidated List will close on 28 January 2026, with the UK Sanctions List becoming the sole authoritative source for all UK sanctions designations.

The Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office (FCDO) has announced sanctions on two China-based companies for reckless and irresponsible activity in cyberspace. Sichuan Anxun Information Technology Co. Ltd (i-Soon) was sanctioned for targeting more than 80 government and private-sector IT systems worldwide and for supporting others engaged in malicious cyber activity. Integrity Technology Group Incorporated (Integrity Tech) was sanctioned for operating a covert cyber network and providing technical assistance for cyberattacks, including those directed at UK public-sector systems. According to the FCDO, these actions contravene agreed UN cyber principles. FCDO notes that these actions contravene agreed UN cyber principles.

The Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office, represented by Hamish Falconer MP and the Rt Hon David Lammy MP, announced new sanctions against three individuals, two illegal settler outposts and two organisations that have supported, incited or promoted violence against Palestinian communities in the West Bank. The measures, which include asset freezes, travel bans and director disqualifications, have been introduced in response to a significant escalation in settler violence – with the United Nations recording over 1,800 such attacks since January 2024. In addition, the Foreign Secretary declared a formal pause to negotiations on a new free trade agreement with Israel, although the government remains committed to the existing trade framework. His statement to Parliament unequivocally condemned the Israeli government’s policies in both the West Bank and Gaza, specifically its extensive ground operation in Gaza, which has raised serious humanitarian concerns such as the threat of starvation and forced displacement of Gazan civilians. The announcement was bolstered by a joint statement from the Prime Minister alongside the leaders of France and Canada, who also expressed strong opposition to the expansion of military operations and illegal settlements, underscoring the view that continued non-compliance could result in further action.