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Guidance: Financial sanctions, Syria

Updated: Updated with 'Latest HM Treasury notice, 22/01/2019, Syria, (Reg 2019/85)'.

Sanctions

Syria is currently subject to financial sanctions put in place by the European Union (EU) and, therefore, imposed by the UK as a member of the EU.

You can view Council Regulation (EU) No 36/2012 on restrictive measures in Syria online.

Implementation date

Financial sanctions have been imposed by the EU since 2011.

Context

The Syria regime imposes asset freezes on those identified as being responsible for the violent repression of the civilian population in Syria.

There are several financial restrictions on those listed in relation to the:

sale or purchase of certain Syrian public or guaranteed bonds establishment of new banking relationships and provision of certain insurance and re-insurance products.

There are further restrictions on the:

purchase of certain goods in Syria and the export of such goods to Syria. Exemptions

There are no licencing grounds available for the restrictions listed above. However, specific exemptions apply to certain activities, such as:

providing humanitarian aid to civilians in Syria. These exemptions are contained in Council Regulation (EU) No 36/2012 purchasing and transporting petroleum products in Syria. These exemptions are contained in Council Regulation (EU) No 36/2012 and are directed against the Assad regime.

Organisations providing humanitarian assistance to the civilian population in Syria are exempt from the prohibitions outlined in Article 6 of Council Regulation (EU) No 36/2012 if they have received funds from the:

UK Government EU Commission EU Member States

Those who don’t receive such public funds will need to apply for a licence both from the Export Control Organisation (ECO) and OFSI. Please visit OFSI’s licensing page and ECO’s web pages for more information.

There are no exemptions for prohibitions in the relevant counter-terrorism sanctions regimes.

For more information about these regimes, please visit the OFSI’s page on terrorist financing

EU regulations

You can view Council Regulation (EU) No 36/2012 on restrictive measures in Syria online.

You can find the most recent amendments to the Regulation by searching on EUR-Lex – an online database that provides free access to EU law, international agreements and other public documents. Just:

enter the Regulation number into the search bar open the relevant page and click ‘document information’

The European Commission has provided Frequently Asked Questions on EU restrictive measures in Syria to clarify certain provisions of EU Council Regulation No. 36/2012 and to facilitate its implementation.

UK regulations

UK Regulations and amendments relating to the Syria (European Union Financial Sanctions) Regulations 2012:

16.08.2013 The Syria (European Union Financial Sanctions) (Amendment No. 2) Regulations 2013 (S.I. 2013/1876)

07.05.2013 The Syria (European Union Financial Sanctions) (Amendment) Regulations 2013 (S.I. 2013/877)

26.10.2012 The Syria (European Union Financial Sanctions (Amendment No 2) Regulations (S.I. 2012/2524)

19.01.2012 The Syria (European Union Financial Sanctions) Regulations 2012 (S.I. 2012/129)

https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/financial-sanctions-syria

seen at 20:33, 22 January in Publications on GOV.UK.
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