Recording: UK Sanctions Strategy: One Year On

The first UK Sanctions Strategy included a commitment to deter, disrupt and demonstrate. Our panel of experts evaluated the steps the UK government has taken to match the ambition of its Strategy, and discussed the significant evolutions in the UK’s use of sanctions and how the country can continue to make sanctions more effective. Our panellists considered the different thematic and country regimes, cross-government coordination on sanctions, public-private collaboration, and the current levels of enforcement. 

The ever-evolving sanctions threat landscape also requires the UK to be highly adaptive to identify and counter emerging risks. Complex circumvention methodologies, growing collaboration between targeted jurisdictions and new challenges posed by alternative payments systems and online threats demand the constant fine-tuning of designations and the recalibration of operational responses. Our discussion considered the priorities of the UK’s sanctions agenda, expected updates to the government’s approach, as well as the outlook for the future of sanctions as the UK works more closely with the EU authorities in Brussels and contends with a new US Administration. 

Panellists 

• Chloe Cina, Senior Associate Fellow, RUSI
• Jon Harvey, European Head of Anti-Financial Crime, Oliver Wyman
• Allison Mackenzie, Group Head of Sanctions, HSBC
• David Reed, Director for Sanctions, Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office

The panel was moderated by Tom Keatinge, Director, Centre for Finance and Security at RUSI