Politico: Britainʼs sanctions watchdog has issued no fines for violating them

Britainʼs Office for the Financial Sanctions Implementation (OFSI) has not imposed any fines on Russians who have evaded sanctions since the illegal invasion of Ukraine in February 2022.

This is reported by Politico.

OFSI, which is part of the Ministry of Finance of the Great Britain, is the main body responsible for enforcing sanctions. It was created in 2016 after Britain left the EU and needed its own sanctions enforcement body. Its functions are to "rapidly identify, respond to and eliminate violations of financial sanctions."

Critics fear that the Office for Financial Sanctions Implementation (OFSI) has become the epitome of Britainʼs approach to punishing Russia for its war: pay lip service.

"The government has shown no real political will to enforce what is a potentially criminal breach of sanctions," said Helen Taylor, senior fellow at Spotlight on Corruption.

Now the deputies want to do something about non-compliance with sanctions. At the same time, sanctions continue to be introduced, even if there is no compulsion to enforce them. On Friday, May 17, the UK Foreign Office announced a package of sanctions against Russia and North Korea aimed at "arms-for-oil trading".