The Office of Financial Sanctions Implementation (OFSI) has issued two new general licences and amended two existing licences under the Russia sanctions regime. The new licences comprise General Licence INT/2026/8889196, which authorises persons to wind down transactions involving designated persons and General Licence INT/2026/8893924 permits the winding down of insurance policies written by Maritime Mutual entities and their subsidiaries prior to their designation. In addition, OFSI amended two existing general licences. General Licence INT/2024/4761108 has been amended and extended to 23:59pm on 23 February 2028. General Licence INT/2025/5635700 has been updated to include entities owned or controlled by PJSC Transneft following its designation.

The Office of Financial Sanctions Implementation (OFSI) has issued a penalty of £152,750 on Colorcon Limited, a pharmaceutical industry supplier and UK-registered subsidiary of Colorcon Inc., for breaching the Russia (Sanctions) (EU Exit) Regulations 2019. The breach involved 79 payments totalling £128,277.72 made by Colorcon’s Moscow office to accounts held at designated Russian financial institutions, in contravention of the UK financial sanctions linked to Russia’s illegal invasion of Ukraine in 2022. Although 44 of the payments were covered under General Licence INT/2022/2055384 prior to its expiry, Colorcon failed to comply with its reporting obligations and continued transactions after the licence had expired. OFSI assessed the case as serious, citing inadequate internal controls, delayed disclosure, and reliance on third-party screening without verification. A 35% discount was applied to the penalty due to voluntary disclosure, reduced from the maximum 50% because of a four-month delay in reporting. This case highlights key compliance lessons for the industry, notably that reliance on third parties does not absolve responsibility; the party committing the breach will be held accountable.

The Office of Financial Sanctions Implementation (OFSI) has issued a monetary penalty of £160,000 on Bank of Scotland Plc (Bank of Scotland) for breaches of regulations 11 (dealing with funds) and 12 (making funds available) of the Russia (Sanctions) (EU Exit) Regulations 2019, SI 2019/855. The penalty was imposed under section 146 of the Policing and Crime Act 2017 (PCA 2017) and relates to Bank of Scotland’s processing of 24 payments totalling £77,383.39 to and from a personal current account held by an individual designated under the Russia Regulations.

The Office of Financial Sanctions Implementation (OFSI) has launched its Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs), where industry partners and the public can seek technical support and responses to commonplace compliance questions. OFSI does not accept individual requests for new FAQs, however, will ‘look to publish FAQs when they would benefit a significant portion of industry or the public’.

The Office of Financial Sanctions Implementation (OFSI) has launched a call for evidence seeking 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, with a particular focus on ‘hypothetical control’. His Majesty’s Government (HMG) is seeking practical examples of how often hypothetical control arises, its impact on compliance costs, legal risk and business decisions (including de-risking) and whether existing legal concepts and typologies of control assist in applying the ownership and control test. The call for evidence closes on 20 April 2026.

Law360, London: The Office of Financial Sanctions Implementation (OFSI), the government entity in charge of financial sanctions implementation and enforcement, closed a consultation on 13 October 2025considering substantial reforms to its financial sanctions enforcement practices, following its white paper, ‘OFSI's enforcement processes: Consultation’, published in July 2025.

The Office of Financial Sanctions Implementation (OFSI) has published updated guidance for the Maritime Services Ban and Oil Price Cap to provide additional clarify and detail on three matters. OFSI has also issued General Licence INT/2024/4423849 and updated the associated publication notice. This permits activity that would otherwise breach the Maritime Services Ban.

The Office of Financial Sanctions Implementation (OFSI) has begun to publish a series of Threat Assessment Reports, fulfilling its commitment under the Economic Crime Plan 2. These reports will provide sector-specific assessments of threats and vulnerabilities relating to UK financial sanctions. The first published report is a Financial Services Threat Assessment Report, aimed at assisting stakeholders in key UK sectors to adopt a risk-based approach to sanctions compliance.

The Office of Financial Sanctions Implementation (OFSI) has published General Licence INT/2025/7598960 under regulation 64 of the Russia (Sanctions) (EU Exit) Regulations 2019, SI 2019/855. The licence permits the continuation of business activities involving Rosneft Deutschland GmbH, RN Refining and Marketing GmbH and their subsidiaries. OFSI has also updated its UK Financial Sanctions FAQs, adding FAQ 169, which clarifies that business operations with these entities may continue as normal in relation to UK financial sanctions, provided they comply with the terms of General Licence INT/2025/7598960.

The Office of Financial Sanctions Implementation (OFSI) has published a new Legal Services General Licence INT/2025/7323088 under most UK Autonomous Sanctions Regimes. The licence will take effect following the expiry of Legal Services General Licence INT/2024/6160920 on 28 October 2025. It permits UK legal firms and counsel that have provided legal advice to persons designated under the UK Autonomous Sanctions Regimes listed in Annex 1 to receive payment from those designated persons without requiring an OFSI specific licence, provided that the terms of the General Licence INT/2025/7323088 are met.

The Office of Financial Sanctions Implementation (OFSI) has published a report outlining its assessment of threats to sanctions compliance involving UK legal service providers since February 2022. It provides information on suspected sanctions breaches only and is intended to assist stakeholders with prioritisation as part of a risk-based approach to compliance.

The Office of Financial Sanctions (OFSI) has published two additional FAQs to the UK Financial Sanctions FAQs. The two FAQs are on General Licence INT/2024/4919848 and trust services.