It has been twelve months since I last wrote about Phi , the 58.5-metre superyacht detained under the UK's Russia sanctions regime. In that time, nothing has changed. She remains where she has been since 2022, moored in the same spot at Canary Wharf, her bright blue hull fading under the weather and her once-impeccable finish showing signs of neglect. Each morning I see her from our apartment window, an unmissable silhouette against the water. What was once a temporary act of

The latest announcement from the Justice Department marks a significant escalation in US efforts to dismantle North Korea’s illicit global revenue networks. With five guilty pleas secured and over 15 million dollars in virtual currency subject to civil forfeiture, the Department has underscored both the scale and sophistication of the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea’s (DPRK) exploitation of remote IT work and cryptocurrency theft to finance its weapons programmes in def

It has been little more than a month since United States President Donald Trump pardoned Changpeng Zhao, the former chief executive of Binance. Zhao, better known as CZ, had pleaded guilty in 2023 to enabling money laundering through the world’s largest cryptocurrency exchange. He served four months in prison, paid a substantial fine, and agreed to step down as CEO. The case was described by the US Department of Justice as a landmark in crypto enforcement. Yet, during an int

The Office of Trade Sanctions Implementation (OTSI) has released new guidance aimed at helping businesses in the freight and shipping sector identify and counter Russian sanctions evasion. The publication provides practical tools for companies to strengthen compliance frameworks and safeguard supply chains against exploitation by sanctions evaders. The guidance outlines goods at heightened risk of diversion to Russia, red flag indicators of circumvention, and best practice re

Economic sanctions are the sharp edge of modern diplomacy. In a world marked by geopolitical fracture and strategic competition, they function as tools of coercion and containment, targeting adversaries without the deployment of armed force. But not all sanctions are created or enforced equally. In the UK, financial sanctions and trade sanctions operate within distinct legal and institutional frameworks. Financial sanctions, enforced by the Office of Financial Sanctions Imple

The United States Department of the Treasury’s Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) has released a new Financial Trend Analysis (FTA) revealing around 9 billion dollars in potential Iranian shadow banking activity that passed through US correspondent accounts in 2024. The findings, based on reports from US financial institutions, underscore the scale and sophistication of Tehran’s global sanctions evasion operations. According to FinCEN, Iran’s shadow banking network

The Office of Financial Sanctions Implementation (OFSI) has published its Annual Review 2024–25 , outlining a year of significant progress in strengthening the UK’s financial sanctions regime amid escalating global tensions. The release coincides with the announcement by the Chancellor and Foreign Secretary of new sanctions against Russia’s largest oil companies, further tightening pressure on Kremlin revenues and global enablers of its illegal war on Ukraine. OFSI’s report s

The UK has imposed its toughest sanctions yet on Russia, directly targeting its energy sector and the global enablers sustaining President Vladimir Putin’s war in Ukraine. Announced jointly by the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office and HM Treasury, the sweeping package of 90 new sanctions cuts deep into the Kremlin’s oil revenues, striking at major producers Rosneft and Lukoil – which together export more than three million barrels per day. Rosneft alone accounts for

A Latvian national has pleaded guilty in a United States federal court to conspiring with American partners to illegally export sensitive...

The Office of Financial Sanctions Implementation (OFSI), part of HM Treasury, has imposed a monetary penalty of £152,750 on Colorcon...

As geopolitical tensions intensify and sanctions become an increasingly prominent tool of foreign policy, multinational organisations are...

OFSI has published a disclosure report against Vanquis Bank Limited for breaches of the Counter-Terrorism Sanctions EU Exit Regulations...