The UK’s Government further adopted The Russia (Sanctions) (EU Exit) (Amendment) (No. 17) Regulations 2022 (Amendment 17), which came into force on 16 December 2022. It amends Part 3 (Finance) and Part 5 (Trade) of The Russia (Sanctions) (EU Exit) Regulations 2019.

Financial sanctions under Amendment 17:

• Prohibits the provision of services related to trusts or similar arrangements to, or for the benefit, of persons designated for the purposes of this measure and on providing new services related to trusts or similar arrangements to, or for the benefit of, persons connected with Russia.

Further guidance can be found in the SRA release on the ban on what ‘trust services’ are and the definition of “connected with Russia” under Reg 19(A)2.

• Suspends the Bank of England’s duty under the UK’s Banking Act 2009 to make a decision in respect of notification of third-country resolution action in respect of designated persons or entities owned or controlled by designated persons.

*Resolution is the process by which regulatory authorities manage the orderly failure of financial institutions.

• Amends existing restrictions on dealing with securities or money market instruments and loans and credit arrangements to persons connected with Russia to close certain loopholes by extending the definitions of transferable securities and money market instruments and loans and credit arrangements.

The UK introduced General Licence INT/2022/2448692, allowing for a seven-day wind-down period with respect to financial prohibitions in Regulations 16, 17 and 18B with respect to securities, loans and investments in Russia, which takes effect from 16 December 2022 and expires on 22 December 2022. Trade sanctions under Amendment 17: Prohibits the direct and indirect provision of the following additional business services to a person connected with Russia:

• auditing services
• advertising services
• architectural services
• engineering services
• IT consultancy and design services

The package does not include the previously-announced ban on the provision of transactional legal advisory services by the UK’s Government, but it is anticipated, based on the announcement, that Amendment 17:

• Expands the current prohibitions on the export, supply and delivery, and making available of additional products (as well as related technical help, financial services and funds, and brokering services), caught by the critical-industry goods and critical-industry technology schedule.

This measure includes prohibitions on camouflage, oil production and mining equipment.

• Expands the current prohibitions on the export, supply and delivery, and making available of additional products (as well as related technical help, financial services and funds, and brokering services), caught by the defence and security goods and defence and security technology schedule.

This measure includes prohibitions in relation to five additional chemicals.

The statutory guidance relating to Russian sanctions can be found here.

Our ongoing blog post on the various packages of UK sanctions on Russia can be found here.