Sanctions updates from 2 March

On 2 March, various UK government agencies and regulators released a number of statements and extra measures brought in on 1 March:

• the PSR announced  that is was working with all relevant agencies to help make sure the financial sector continues to work well and that, in particular, it encourages firms to consider how they would manage risks such as attacks from a sophisticated state actor, whether staffing levels can deal with elevated cyber risk attacks, the impact on third party suppliers or sanctions and the resilience of third party suppliers.  It has shared the National Cyber Security Centre’s guidance on actions organisations should take in response to the current situation in Russia and Ukraine;
• OFSI published updated sanctions notices and guidance to go alongside the now 5 sets of amendment Regulations to the Russia (Sanctions)(EU Exit) Regulations;
• the FCDO confirmed the imposition of sanctions on Belarus for its role in the invasion, and the introduction of further sanctions against Russia including a ban on ships;
• the House of Commons library published a briefing paper; and
• OFSI published details of general licenses relating to prudential supervision or financial stability, and to UK subsidiaries of Russian banks;