- Chief Compliance Officer and VP of Legal Affairs, Arrow Electronics
By 
Kyle Brasseur2023-12-13T17:19:00
The U.K. government is set to establish a new agency to enforce trade sanctions and provide compliance guidance to businesses regarding the country’s sanctions regimes.
The Office of Trade Sanctions Implementation (OTSI) is expected to be ready to enforce trade sanctions in 2024, said U.K. Industry and Economic Security Minister Nusrat Ghani in a speech delivered Monday.
“The office will build up our trade sanctions capability and make sure our sanctions regimes are as impactful as possible,” she said. “It will also crack down on companies that breach trade sanctions and so help to facilitate warmongers and tyrants to cling to power.”
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U.K. companies might be wary of informing regulators they have potentially violated sanctions against Russia over fears they could be publicly criticized for even minor breaches.
The recent decision by the U.K. Office of Financial Sanctions Implementation to disclose details of how Wise Payments failed to stop an individual from obtaining cash while subject to Russian sanctions has ignited debate about whether the agency is taking the right enforcement approach.
U.K.-based foreign exchange service Wise Payments was cited for breaching the country’s sanctions levied against Russia as part of the Office of Financial Sanctions Implementation’s first use of its disclosure enforcement powers acquired last year.
USAA Federal Savings Bank has been hit with its third cease and desist order from the Treasury Department’s Office of the Comptroller of the Currency in the past five years for failing to correct unsafe and unsound banking practices.
Becton Dickinson medical device company will pay $175 million for “repeatedly” misleading investors about its Alaris infusion pump, a product the company knew was flawed and was sold without the required patient-safety approvals, the Securities and Exchange Commission said.
The Securities and Exchange Commission charged bankrupt fashion retailer Express with failing to disclose nearly $1 million in perks to a former chief executive, but did not levy a financial penalty thanks to its cooperation, the SEC said.
