OFSI updates on changes to regulations

OFSI has notified firms of changes to financial sanctions regulations. The changes involve:

• changing reporting currencies from euro to sterling;
• expressing the “high value dealer” and “art market participant” thresholds so they are now expressed in sterling but not converted, so that the previous €10,000 threshold is now a £10,000 threshold;
• allowing OFSI and other authorities to send notices for licences electronically without needing consent to do so;
• clarifying that the Treasury debt exception applies to all transfers of funds across the entire payment chain;
• broadening the “prior obligations” licensing ground to allow OFSI to license pre-designation obligations when appropriate; and
• updating the FAQs.