TRW & Co · Competition, Regulatory & Investigations
Sanctions and Export Controls Lawyers in London
Sanctions lawyers London businesses instruct advise on asset freezes, trade sanctions and strategic export controls. With strict civil liability for financial sanctions breaches, a dedicated trade sanctions enforcer in OTSI and the UK Sanctions List now the single source of designations, businesses need screening, licensing and disclosure processes that work before a payment or shipment is stopped.
Key pointMost breaches come from entities owned or controlled by a designated person rather than the listed person itself. Since civil liability for financial sanctions is strict, ownership research and a documented control judgement are the most valuable compliance steps.
At a glance
Single designations list
Since 28 January 2026 the UK Sanctions List has been the only source for UK designations, after OFSI's Consolidated List closed.
Strict civil liability
Since June 2022 OFSI can penalise financial sanctions breaches without proving knowledge, up to the greater of £1 million or 50% of the breach value.
Trade sanctions enforcer
OTSI, part of the Department for Business and Trade, has enforced certain trade sanctions through civil penalties since 10 October 2024.
Ownership and control
Asset freezes extend to entities owned or controlled by designated persons, even when those entities are not named on the list.
Export licences
Military and dual-use items on the UK Strategic Export Control Lists need a licence from the Export Control Joint Unit before export or transfer.
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What sanctions and export controls cover in the UK
UK sanctions restrict dealings with designated people, entities, ships and countries, while export controls regulate the movement of military and dual-use goods, software and technology. Banks, traders, shipowners, insurers, manufacturers and investors instruct sanctions lawyers London practitioners when a counterparty may be designated, a payment is blocked, a shipment needs a licence or a possible breach has come to light.
The rules reach further than many businesses expect. They apply to conduct in the UK and to UK nationals and UK-incorporated companies wherever they operate. They cover not only direct dealings with listed persons but also entities those persons own or control, indirect supply through intermediaries, and services such as brokering, financing, insurance and technical assistance connected with restricted goods.
Most compliance failures are not deliberate. They come from incomplete screening, opaque ownership chains, transhipment through third countries or an incorrect assumption that a licence covers the activity. Experienced sanctions lawyers London businesses trust help them design proportionate controls, obtain licences where needed and respond quickly and correctly if something goes wrong.
The legal and regulatory framework
The Sanctions and Anti-Money Laundering Act 2018 (SAMLA) is the main legal basis for UK autonomous sanctions. Each regime is made as regulations under the Act, such as the Russia (Sanctions) (EU Exit) Regulations 2019, which contain asset freezes, trade restrictions, financial and investment restrictions, and transport measures. UN Security Council sanctions are implemented through the same framework.
Strategic export controls rest on the Export Control Act 2002 and the Export Control Order 2008, together with the assimilated dual-use regulation retained after Brexit. The controlled items are set out in the UK Strategic Export Control Lists. Northern Ireland follows EU dual-use rules in some respects under the Windsor Framework, so movements from Northern Ireland need separate analysis.
Who enforces what
The Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office designates persons and ships. Since 28 January 2026 the UK Sanctions List has been the only source for all UK designations, after the separate OFSI Consolidated List closed. Screening systems that still point to the old list need updating.
The Office of Financial Sanctions Implementation (OFSI), part of HM Treasury, handles financial sanctions, licences and civil penalties. The Office of Trade Sanctions Implementation (OTSI), part of the Department for Business and Trade, has enforced certain trade sanctions through civil penalties since 10 October 2024. HMRC remains responsible for criminal enforcement of trade sanctions and for export controls on goods and technology, and the Export Control Joint Unit issues export licences.
| Authority | Responsibility | Main tools |
|---|---|---|
| Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office | Sanctions policy and designations | UK Sanctions List, designation and delisting decisions |
| OFSI (HM Treasury) | Financial sanctions implementation | Licences, guidance, reporting obligations, civil monetary penalties |
| OTSI (Department for Business and Trade) | Civil enforcement of certain trade sanctions | Information powers, civil penalties and enforcement guidance |
| Export Control Joint Unit | Strategic export licensing | Standard and open individual licences, open general licences, control list classification |
| HMRC | Customs enforcement | Seizures, compound penalties and criminal investigation of export control and trade sanctions breaches |
| National Crime Agency and prosecutors | Serious criminal breaches | Criminal investigation and prosecution |
Financial sanctions: asset freezes and the ownership test
An asset freeze prohibits dealing with funds or economic resources owned, held or controlled by a designated person, and making funds or economic resources available to them or for their benefit. The prohibitions extend to entities owned or controlled by a designated person, broadly where the designated person holds more than half the shares or voting rights, can appoint a majority of directors, or where it is reasonable to expect that the entity's affairs are conducted in accordance with their wishes. This control limb is where many difficult judgements arise.
Breaches of financial sanctions are criminal offences, and OFSI can also impose civil penalties under section 146 of the Policing and Crime Act 2017. Since June 2022 civil liability has been strict: OFSI does not need to show that the person knew or suspected a breach. The current maximum penalty is the greater of £1 million and 50% of the estimated value of the funds or resources involved.
OFSI publishes its approach in its enforcement and monetary penalties guidance. In 2025 it consulted on proposals for higher maximum penalties, a structured settlement process and clearer discounts for voluntary disclosure; businesses should check the current position before relying on older guidance. Regulated "relevant firms" also have duties to report frozen assets and suspected breaches to OFSI.
Trade sanctions and export controls
Trade sanctions restrict exports, imports and related services for specified goods and technology, particularly under the Russia regime, which covers a wide range of industrial, luxury, energy-related and high-priority battlefield items, along with services such as professional and business services, shipping and insurance. OTSI enforces many service-related restrictions; HMRC handles restrictions on the physical movement of goods.
Strategic export controls apply regardless of destination. Military items and dual-use goods, software and technology on the control lists need a licence for export, and controls can also catch brokering, technical assistance and electronic transfers of technology. A product that seems ordinary, such as certain sensors, encryption software or machine tools, may be listed. The Export Control Joint Unit is moving licence applications from its legacy SPIRE system to a new platform called LITE, so exporters should check which system their licence type uses.
The "end-use" or catch-all controls add a further layer: even an unlisted item can require a licence if the exporter is told or knows that it is intended for weapons of mass destruction or certain military end uses. Our guide to UK export controls and dual-use licensing covers classification and licence types in more detail.
Screen ownership and control, not just names. Many breaches happen because a counterparty was screened correctly but its parent, a shareholder or the vessel it chartered was not. Collect ownership information at onboarding, refresh it when designations change, and record the reasoning behind any judgement that an entity is not controlled by a designated person.
Licences and the compliance process
Where an activity would otherwise be prohibited, a licence may permit it. Sanctions lawyers London clients engage spend much of their time on licensing strategy, because a well-framed application is decided faster and protects the business if questions arise later.
- Map exposure. Identify customers, suppliers, banks, vessels and jurisdictions in the business model, and the regimes that could apply, including UK, EU and US measures.
- Screen and classify. Screen counterparties and owners against the UK Sanctions List and check goods and technology against the control lists and trade sanctions schedules.
- Check general licences. OFSI, the Department for Business and Trade and the Export Control Joint Unit publish general and open licences that may already authorise the activity, subject to conditions and reporting.
- Apply for a specific licence. Where no general licence applies, apply to the correct authority with a clear explanation of the transaction, the licensing ground and supporting evidence.
- Comply with conditions. Keep records, meet reporting deadlines and check that payments and shipments stay within the licence's scope and duration.
- Monitor change. Designations and trade measures change often. Rescreen on updates and review licences before they expire.
- Escalate concerns. If a possible breach emerges, stop the activity where lawful to do so, preserve records and take advice on disclosure.
Documents and evidence to keep
Regulators judge compliance by the records a business keeps. A strong file includes a written sanctions risk assessment, policies and procedures approved by senior management, onboarding and screening records, ownership research and the reasoning for control judgements, and records of alerts and how they were cleared.
For trade, keep commodity classifications and control list assessments, end-user statements, contracts, shipping documents, bills of lading, vessel and route data, and licence copies with evidence of compliance with conditions. For banks and payment firms, transaction monitoring logs and payment messages matter. Training records and audit reports show that the programme is real, and they influence how authorities view a breach. For links with anti-money laundering controls, see our anti-money laundering page.
Board oversight should be visible in the records too. Minutes showing that directors considered sanctions risk when entering new markets, approved the risk appetite and received regular compliance reports carry weight with regulators assessing whether a breach was an isolated failure or a symptom of weak governance. Where a business relies on third parties for screening, freight forwarding or customs declarations, keep the contracts, service levels and evidence of oversight, because responsibility for compliance cannot be outsourced. A short annual review that tests the programme against recent designations and enforcement notices is a proportionate way to show that the controls keep pace with the rules.
Sanctions in contracts, disputes and designation challenges
Sanctions change faster than contracts. A new designation or trade measure can make payment or performance unlawful overnight, and the contract then decides who bears the loss. Well-drafted sanctions clauses define which regimes count, allow suspension rather than immediate termination, require cooperation on licence applications and deal with payments that are frozen in the banking system. Generic force majeure wording often fits sanctions poorly.
When disputes arise, English courts and London tribunals examine whether performance was actually prohibited, whether a licence could have been obtained, and whether a party relied on a sanctions clause in good faith. Sanctions lawyers London businesses instruct in these disputes need to combine regulatory analysis with contract and insolvency law, because the commercial outcome often turns on both.
Challenging a designation
A designated person can ask the minister to vary or revoke the designation and, under SAMLA, can then apply to the High Court to review the decision. The court applies judicial review principles, so challenges succeed only where the decision was unlawful, irrational or procedurally unfair, and courts give significant weight to the government's foreign policy judgement. Delisting requests that present new evidence of changed circumstances are often more productive than litigation. Businesses dealing with a designated counterparty should not assume an ongoing challenge allows them to resume dealings.
Risks and common mistakes
Sanctions lawyers London businesses consult after a problem typically find one of these causes.
Relying on name screening alone
Screening a counterparty's name against the list is necessary but not sufficient. The asset freeze extends to entities owned or controlled by designated persons, and those entities are often not listed themselves. Businesses that do not research ownership, or that stop at the first corporate layer, can deal with a controlled entity without realising it. Because civil liability for financial sanctions is strict, that may still be a breach. Build ownership research into onboarding for higher-risk relationships and document the conclusion.
Missing transhipment and diversion risk
Restricted goods often reach sanctioned destinations through third countries with established trade routes. Red flags include new customers in transit hubs with no clear end use, orders that do not match the buyer's business, requests to ship via unusual routes and payments from unrelated third parties. Authorities expect exporters to recognise these signs, especially for high-priority items. Use end-user statements and contractual "no re-export" clauses, and refuse orders that cannot be explained.
Assuming a licence covers more than it does
General licences and specific licences come with conditions, time limits and reporting requirements. A business that relies on a licence without reading its scope, or that keeps trading after it expires, may be in breach even though it acted in good faith. Licence reporting is also a frequent source of minor breaches that regulators now pursue. Allocate ownership of each licence, diarise expiry and reporting dates, and record how each transaction fits within the authorised activity.
Delaying a voluntary disclosure
When a possible breach is found, the instinct may be to investigate fully before saying anything. Regulators, however, give weight to prompt and complete disclosure, and delay can count against a business. The balance is to scope the facts quickly, take advice on whether and when to report, and preserve evidence and privilege. A disclosure that is premature and inaccurate is also a risk, so the first report often explains what is known and what is still being checked. Our corporate investigations team handles internal reviews.
Forgetting non-UK regimes
UK compliance does not ensure compliance with EU or US sanctions. EU measures bind EU persons and activity in the EU, and US measures can reach transactions in US dollars, US-origin goods and, through secondary sanctions, some non-US persons. Contract clauses, bank policies and insurers often refer to several regimes at once. Identify which regimes apply to each relationship and avoid sanctions clauses that require compliance with laws that would conflict with UK blocking rules or that make performance impossible.
Cross-border sanctions issues
Many London transactions involve parties in the Gulf, South Asia, Singapore and China, where local sanctions regimes differ from the UK's. Bangladesh, for example, implements UN Security Council measures but does not mirror UK autonomous sanctions, so a Bangladeshi counterparty may lawfully deal with someone who is designated in the UK. UK banks financing that trade, and UK companies within the supply chain, still need to apply UK rules.
TRW & Co's offices in Dhaka, Singapore and Dubai help UK businesses understand counterparties and local law, and help businesses based abroad understand how UK sanctions affect their banking, shipping and insurance relationships in London. Our UK–Bangladesh trade and finance and shipping and maritime teams work alongside the sanctions practice on trade flows.
EU sanctions remain closely aligned with the UK's in many areas but are not identical, and the EU has its own designations, exemptions and "best efforts" obligations for parent companies. US measures add secondary sanctions risk for non-US banks and businesses. Sanctions lawyers London groups rely on for cross-border work map these regimes against each other so that one compliance programme can address all three where possible, with specific local advice where they diverge.
Sanctions compliance fails at the edges: the parent company nobody screened, the vessel nobody checked and the licence nobody reread.
How TRW & Co's sanctions lawyers London team helps
TRW & Co's London office is authorised and regulated by the Solicitors Regulation Authority. We advise on compliance, licensing, investigations and disputes, and where criminal proceedings or higher court advocacy are required we work with specialist counsel. We do not promise any regulatory outcome.
Risk assessments and programmes
Sanctions and export control risk assessments, policies, screening design and training tailored to the business model and the regimes that apply.
Transaction advice
Ownership and control analysis, counterparty and vessel checks, and sanctions clauses for loans, trade finance, supply contracts and M&A.
Licensing
Applications to OFSI, the Export Control Joint Unit and other licensing authorities, and advice on general licences, conditions and reporting.
Classification and export controls
Control list classification of goods, software and technology, licence strategy and compliance with end-use controls.
Breaches and disclosures
Privileged internal reviews, voluntary disclosure strategy and engagement with OFSI, OTSI and HMRC through to any penalty decision.
Sanctions disputes
Contract disputes caused by sanctions, including frustration, force majeure, payment blocks and termination, in litigation or arbitration.
Our article on UK sanctions compliance is a useful starting point. Browse all our practices for related support, including white-collar crime.
Checklist for decision-makers
Boards, compliance officers and general counsel should be able to answer these questions:
- Have we written down where our sanctions and export control risk lies, by product, geography and counterparty?
- Do our screening systems use the UK Sanctions List and refresh automatically on updates?
- Do we research ownership and control for higher-risk counterparties, vessels and intermediaries?
- Are our goods, software and technology classified against the control lists?
- Which general or specific licences do we rely on, and who monitors their conditions and expiry?
- Do our contracts allocate sanctions risk sensibly across UK, EU and US regimes?
- Do we have an escalation and disclosure process if a possible breach emerges?
Sanctions lawyers London businesses instruct should help turn these answers into proportionate controls. To discuss a live issue, contact our London office or email info@trw.co.
Frequently asked questions
01Who has to comply with UK sanctions?
UK sanctions apply to conduct within the UK, including its territorial sea, and to UK persons wherever they are in the world. UK persons include UK nationals and bodies incorporated or constituted under UK law, so a UK company's overseas branch must comply. Non-UK companies can also be caught when they act in the UK, for example by using UK banks, insurers or service providers. Separately, UK businesses may have to consider EU and US sanctions because of where they operate, the currency used and their contractual commitments.
02What happens if we discover a sanctions breach?
Stop the activity where you can lawfully do so, preserve documents and take legal advice promptly. Most cases call for a quick, privileged review of what happened, who was involved and the value at stake. OFSI and OTSI both encourage voluntary disclosure and treat prompt, complete disclosure and cooperation as mitigating factors. Regulated relevant firms may also have mandatory reporting duties. A careful disclosure can reduce the risk of a penalty, but it should be accurate and should not waive privilege unnecessarily.
03Is the 50% ownership test the only test for control?
No. An entity is treated as owned or controlled by a designated person if that person holds more than half of the shares or voting rights, has the right to appoint or remove a majority of the board, or if it is reasonable, having regard to all the circumstances, to expect that the person would be able to ensure the entity's affairs are conducted in accordance with their wishes. The last limb is a judgement call. Document the evidence, consider aggregation across designated persons where guidance supports it, and take advice in borderline cases.
04Do we need an export licence for software or technology?
Possibly. Software and technology on the UK Strategic Export Control Lists need a licence to be exported, and an electronic transfer, such as an email, upload or remote access from abroad, can be an export. Encryption, certain technical data and some development and production technology are common examples. Even unlisted items can need a licence under end-use controls if you know or are told they are intended for a prohibited end use. Classify products and technology before sharing them with overseas affiliates or customers.
05Can we obtain a licence to deal with a designated person?
Sometimes. OFSI can issue specific licences on grounds set out in each regime, such as basic needs, legal fees, extraordinary situations or the wind-down of prior obligations, and it publishes general licences for some activities. The Department for Business and Trade, largely through the Export Control Joint Unit, licenses trade-related activity. A licence must be obtained before the activity takes place, and licensing decisions can take time. Applications are stronger when they identify the correct licensing ground and include evidence of the transaction and its purpose.
06Does UK sanctions law apply to trade with Bangladesh?
Bangladesh itself is not subject to a UK country sanctions regime, but UK rules can apply to trade involving Bangladeshi counterparties. A Bangladeshi company could be owned or controlled by a designated person, goods could be destined for a restricted end user elsewhere, and payments may pass through UK banks. UK businesses should screen counterparties and owners, classify goods, and check routes and end use in the normal way. Bangladesh implements UN Security Council sanctions but does not follow UK autonomous designations.
07What penalties apply for export control breaches?
Export control breaches are customs and criminal matters enforced by HMRC. HMRC can seize goods, offer compound settlements in lieu of prosecution and, in serious cases, refer matters for criminal prosecution, which can lead to imprisonment and unlimited fines. Exporters that find errors can make a voluntary disclosure to HMRC, which can influence how the case is handled. Separately, breaches of trade sanctions involving services can attract civil penalties from OTSI.
Sources and official materials
- Sanctions and Anti-Money Laundering Act 2018 — Legal basis for UK sanctions regimes
- The UK Sanctions List — Sole source of UK designations
- Office of Financial Sanctions Implementation — Financial sanctions guidance and licensing
- Financial sanctions enforcement: assessment and monetary penalties — OFSI enforcement approach
- Office of Trade Sanctions Implementation — Civil enforcement of trade sanctions
- Export Control Joint Unit — Strategic export licensing
- Export Control Order 2008 — Controls on military and dual-use exports
General information only, current as at 21 October 2026. It is not legal advice and does not create a solicitor–client relationship. It reflects the law of England and Wales unless stated otherwise; Scotland and Northern Ireland have separate legal systems, and the law changes frequently. Check current official sources and take advice on the facts of your matter.