Office of Financial Sanctions to be operational by April 2016

Emma Oettinger, head of operations and implementation, sanctions and illicit finance at the Treasury, made the announcement at the Export Control Symposium hosted by the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills (BIS) on Tuesday.

In his summer Budget speech in July, UK chancellor George Osborne outlined plans to establish a new Office of Financial Sanctions Implementation within the Treasury.

Oettinger said on Tuesday that the new Office would combine work to drive compliance with financial sanctions by raising awareness and providing support to industry with taking enforcement action against those that flout the financial sanctions put in place.

Oettinger's comments align with Osborne's Budget announcement where he said the new Office would "provide a high quality service to the private sector, working closely with law enforcement to help ensure that financial sanctions are properly understood, implemented and enforced".

Expert in financial sanctions and regulatory risk Stacy Keen of Pinsent Masons, the law firm behind Out-Law.com, said: "The establishment of the new Office will undoubtedly lead to increased enforcement of financial sanctions. Businesses should however take comfort in the pledge for greater education and engagement in this area. Due diligence and sanctions screening on counterparties, those that own or control such parties and end users of supplies, will be key in ensuring compliance."

In his Budget speech Osborne said that UK government intends to legislate to increase the penalties businesses can face for non-compliance with financial sanctions "early in this parliament".