Explanatory note

These Regulations are made under the Sanctions and Anti Money Laundering Act 2018. They make amendments to a number of sanctions regulations.

These Regulations add new exceptions to the asset-freezes imposed by the United Nations (“UN”) on persons and the prohibitions, also imposed by the UN, against the making available of funds to or for their benefit. It will ensure payments can be made in respect of certain funds borrowed by or on behalf of the Treasury (including gilts) and that those payments can be facilitated.

The following regulations are amended which both implement sanctions imposed by the UN and sanctions imposed autonomously by the UK, in addition to the Haiti (Sanctions) Regulations 2022 (S.I. 2022/1281) which only implement sanctions imposed by the UN (the new exceptions only apply to those persons subject to the above asset freezes and prohibitions imposed by the UN)—

• the South Sudan (Sanctions) (EU Exit) Regulations 2019 (S.I. 2019/438),

• the Central African Republic (Sanctions) (EU Exit) Regulations 2020 (S.I. 2020/616),

• the Yemen (Sanctions) (EU Exit) (No. 2) Regulations 2020 (S.I. 2020/1278), and

• the Libya (Sanctions) (EU Exit) Regulations 2020 (S.I. 2020/1665) (“the Libya Regulations”).

These Regulations also add a new exception to the partial asset-freeze imposed by the UN on persons and the prohibitions against the making available of funds to or for their benefit as implemented by the Libya Regulations, which only applies to those persons subject to that partial asset freeze and those prohibitions.

A full impact assessment has not been produced for this instrument as no, or no significant, impact on the private, voluntary or public sectors is foreseen.