Sanctions and Anti-Money Laundering Act 2018

Much of the act covers the UK’s powers to make and enforce its own sanctions.[6] The Act confers broad powers upon the Secretary of State and the Treasury as the ‘appropriate Minister’ to impose sanctions regulations for compliance with a UN obligation or any other international obligation, or for a purpose that would:

• prevent terrorist acts in the UK or elsewhere
• in the interests of national security
• the interests of global peace and security
• assist a UK government foreign policy goal
• promote the end of a war or protect civilians caught up in a conflict zone
• discourage gross abuses of human rights, promote compliance with international human rights law or international humanitarian law
• contribute to mutual international endeavours to thwart the spread and use of weapons and materials of mass destruction
• foster respect for democracy and the rule of law[1]

For this reason, it is easier for the UK to impose sanctions under SAMLA 2018 if it is deemed appropriate by ministers. Under the UK’s prior adherence to EU regulations sanctions were only to be imposed when strictly necessary. This increase of UK powers to impose sanctions has been criticised by some, with Lord Judge in the House of Lords commenting that it was a “bonanza of regulations”,[7] further stating that the Bill should be rechristened as “the ‘Sanctions and Anti-Money Laundering (Regulation Bulk Buy) Bill".[7]

The types of sanction outlined in the bill are;

1. Financial sanctions
2. Immigration sanctions
3. Trade sanctions
4. Aircraft sanctions
5. Shipping sanctions
6. Other sanctions for the purposes of UN obligations[1]

By way of ‘other sanctions’, the Act allows the ‘appropriate Minister making the regulations’[6] to impose sanctions they deem appropriate to comply with a UN obligation.

Under section 12 of SAMLA 2018, it allows the designation of persons by ‘description’ as well as by name. This is not currently covered by EU regulations to which the UK left through leaving the EU.

For a sanction to apply to persons by description, several conditions must be met:

• Given the specific description, a reasonable person could establish whether the designated person fell within it.
• At the time of designation, it is not practicable for the Minister to name and identify every individual who fell within the description.
• The Minister had reasonable grounds to suspect:
  • that where the specified description is members of a particular organisation, that the organisation is an “involved person”; or
  • in the case of any other specified description, that any person falling within that description would necessarily be “an involved person”.

The Act covers anti-money laundering and terrorist funding. Through further regulations, it allows the British government to make provisions for enabling or facilitating the detection or investigation of money laundering and terrorist financing, or the prevention of either. In addition, it allows the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) to combat threats to the integrity of the international financial system via the implementation of Standards.

The Act addresses concerns over the transparency of ownership of foreign companies, requiring the Secretary of State to publish regular reports on the progress made in creating a register of beneficial owners of overseas entities.[1][6]