FIN.

OFSI fines fintech for sanctions breach

OFSI has fined TransferGo Limited (an authorised payment institution) £50,000 for making funds available to a person designated under the Ukraine sanctions regime. The fine relates to 16 transactions where TransferGo issued instructions to make payments to accounts held at the Russian National Commercial Bank, with a total value of over £7,500.  The bank had been designated in 2014.  The firm disclosed only some of the transactions to OFSI and even then only in response to OFSI requests. It had made an error in its assessment of whether the payments were subject to restrictions, believing that as the relevant clients and beneficiaries were not themselves subject to restrictions, the payments to the bank were not breaches.  OFSI disagreed, saying the funds in bank account ultimately belong to the banks. As such, the firm showed a poor understanding of the regime, and, as a result did not make any voluntary disclosure of breach. However, the firm did cooperate fully with OFSI.

Emma Radmore