Regulatory Blog

The European Union announced a series of restrictive measures targeting individuals and entities involved in significant violations of international law, human rights, and cybersecurity. These measures were adopted on 16 March 2026, reflect the EU's commitment to safeguard global security, human rights, and the rule of law. These measures form a distinct package of measures from the 20th Package on Russia, which was released on 23 April 2026.

On 14 June 2026, a broad coalition of states, including the United Kingdom and European Union member states, issued a joint statement responding to the announcement of a memorandum of understanding between the United States and Iran, calling for the detailed negotiations to be concluded and the agreement to be implemented rapidly and comprehensively, indicating their readiness to support that effort.

On 21 May 2026, the Court of Justice of the European Union delivered two significant sets of judgments addressing the interaction between trust structures and, respectively, EU restrictive measures and anti-money laundering transparency obligations. Taken together, these rulings reinforce the EU's substance-over-form approach to financial regulation and carry important implications for trustees, fiduciary service providers, and compliance professionals across the Member States.

On 24 April 2026, the UK Office of Financial Sanctions Implementation issued a new General Licence (INT/2026/9512597) under the Sanctions and Anti-Money Laundering Act 2018, replacing the previous Legal Services General Licence which expired on 28 April 2026. The licence allows UK law firms and counsel to receive payments from designated persons under the UK Autonomous Sanctions Regimes listed in Annex 1 including, notably, Russia, without needing a separate OFSI-specific licence, provided all terms are met.

On 19 May 2026, the Department for Business and Trade published General Trade Licence GBSAN0004. The Licence exempts diesel and jet fuel refined from Russian-origin crude oil in third countries from the new import ban introduced under Chapter 4IB of the Russia Regulations 2019. It came into force on 20 May 2026, has no fixed end date and will be periodically reviewed by the Secretary of State.

On 20 May 2026, the Russia Regulations 2026 came into force, significantly expanding the UK's sanctions regime against Russia. Made by the Secretary of State under the Sanctions and Anti-Money Laundering Act 2018, these Regulations amend the Russia Regulations 2019 and introduce a range of new trade and shipping prohibitions.

On 26 May 2026, the UK Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office announced 18 new designations under the Russia Regulations 2019, targeting cryptocurrency exchanges, financial intermediaries, and key individuals linked to Russia's sanctions evasion infrastructure.

On 11 May 2026, the European Union's foreign ministers reached a unanimous agreement to impose restrictive measures on Israeli settlers and settler organisations over violence against Palestinians in the occupied West Bank. The sanctions arise against the backdrop of escalating tensions in the West Bank.

The Jersey Financial Services Commission updated its sanctions list, which includes measures implemented and enforced by Jersey. These sanctions are categorised by country and specific regimes, providing an overview of the legal acts, latest news, and Jersey's enforcement regime.

On 13 March 2026, the Cyprus Securities and Exchange Commission issued Circular 759, to inform relevant entities about the adoption of the European Securities and Markets Authority’s guidelines on outsourcing to cloud service providers. This replaces Circular 457 from July 2021.

European Union has issued significant and far-reaching sanctions and restrictive measures on Russia and the Russian Economy. View a table of all the sanctions here.

On 23 April 2026, the Council of the European Union formally adopted its 20th package of restrictive measures against the Russian Federation in response to Russia's ongoing war of aggression against Ukraine. It features 120 additional individual listings, the largest number in two years, and multi-layered economic sanctions.