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Written question asked by Baroness Stern (Crossbench) on Monday, 20 June 2022, in the House of Lords. It was due for an answer on Monday, 4 July 2022. It was answered by Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon (Conservative) on Thursday, 7 July 2022 on behalf of the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office.

British Overseas Territories and Crown Dependencies: Sanctions

Question

To ask Her Majesty's Government whether any (1) systems, or (2) agreements are in place, to encourage the British Overseas Territories and Crown Dependencies to proactively share information with UK authorities relating to entities registered in these jurisdictions that are suspected to be connected to sanctioned individuals.

Answer

The Overseas Territories and Crown Dependencies share valuable company ownership information with UK law authorities under the Exchange of Notes process, whereby information is shared with UK law authorities within at least 24 hours of receiving a request (and within one hour for urgent requests). Information provided has enabled the seizure of illicit funds, including information to support the National Crime Agency's (NCA) first Unexplained Wealth Order, which froze approximately £25 million. Furthermore, the UK's Office of Financial Sanctions Implementation, which sits within HM Treasury, engages regularly with the Overseas Territories and the Crown Dependencies on compliance, enforcement and licensing. This engagement has assisted these jurisdictions in developing the implementation of financial sanctions across the wider UK Family.

UK sanctions apply in all Overseas Territories and the Crown Dependencies, and these jurisdictions have frozen Russian assets with a combined estimated value in excess of £10 billion. These figures are likely to change.

Secondary information

Type
Written question
Reference
HL1119
Session
2022-23
Subjects
Crown dependencies British overseas territories Sanctions
Link
View this Written question on www.parliament.uk