What a sanctions listing means

Who makes a listing

Each UN regime is managed by a Security Council committee, and every committee publishes the names listed under it ¹. All names appear together on one Consolidated List. The UN says this does not mean all names are listed under one regime or under the same criteria ¹.

Governments keep their own lists too. In the United States the Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) administers and enforces economic and trade sanctions against countries, regimes, individuals and entities ³. In the EU, the Council of the European Union takes sanctions decisions by unanimity ⁴. In the UK, under the standard procedure, a minister may name a person only where the minister has reasonable grounds to suspect that the person is an involved person, as defined in the regulations ⁷.

What a listing does

OFAC describes blocking as a freeze. It creates a broad ban on transfers and other dealings, and title to the property stays with the blocked person ³. Using any ownership rights needs OFAC authorization. Holders must report blocked property to OFAC within 10 business days ³. OFAC rules apply to all US persons, including US citizens and permanent residents wherever they live, anyone in the United States and US-incorporated entities with their foreign branches ³.

For people and entities listed over Russia's war against Ukraine, the EU Council states three effects. Their assets in the EU are frozen. EU persons and entities cannot make funds available to them. Listed individuals cannot enter or transit through EU territory ².

• Asset freeze: funds and economic resources are held, not confiscated ^3,2.
• Ban on making funds available: third parties may not pay or supply the listed party ².
• Travel ban: entry or transit is refused for listed individuals ².

Companies owned by listed persons

Under the US 50 Percent Rule, an entity owned 50 percent or more by blocked persons is itself blocked, even if it is not named on a list ³. OFAC adds together the stakes of all blocked persons, including those blocked under different programs ⁸. OFAC says the rule speaks to ownership, not control. An entity controlled but not majority owned by a blocked person is not blocked automatically, but OFAC can designate it separately ⁸.

The UK takes a different approach on aggregation. OFSI says it does not add together separate minority stakes of different designated persons, except where they act under a joint arrangement or one controls the rights of another ⁹. OFSI says owned or controlled companies may not appear on the UK Sanctions List and that no list of them exists, so firms carry out their own due diligence ⁹.

Listing, criminal charge and delisting compared

A listing is a decision by a government or the UN Security Council, not a court judgment. Courts can review it afterward. In the UK, a court reviewing a designation decision applies the principles used in judicial review ¹⁰. Breaking sanctions is a separate matter. Civil and in some cases criminal penalties can follow a violation of OFAC rules ³.

How a listing can end

Listed persons can ask the body that listed them to reconsider. In the UK, a designated person may ask the minister at any time to vary or revoke the designation. A further request on the same designation needs a significant matter the minister has not considered before ⁵. In the EU, listed persons can ask the Council to reconsider and can challenge the decision before the General Court of the European Union ⁶. The UN runs a Focal Point for Delisting and, for the ISIL (Da'esh) and Al-Qaida list, an Ombudsperson ¹.