Advisory Warning No. 7 of 2013 - The Iraq (United Nations Sanctions)(Overseas Territories)(Amendment) Order 2012 (2013-03-13)

Summary

This is a public advisory notice issued by the BVI Financial Services Commission informing industry and the public that The Iraq (United Nations Sanctions) (Overseas Territories) (Amendment) Order 2012 (UK S.I. 2012 No. 2748) was ratified on 7 February 2013 and extended to the British Virgin Islands. The Order consolidates the asset freezing measures imposed by the UN Security Council in relation to Iraq and updates a related definition in the underlying 2003 Order.

• Background: Asset freezing obligations regarding Iraq originated in UN Security Council Resolution 661 (1990) and were significantly amended by Resolution 1483 (2003), which created an asset transfer mechanism to the Development Fund for Iraq (DFI).
• DFI termination: Resolution 1956 (2010) terminated the DFI and related attachment protections, but the underlying obligation to freeze assets connected to Iraq remains in force.
• Amendment effect: The 2012 Order amends the Iraq (United Nations Sanctions) (Overseas Territories) Order 2003 to update the definition of restricted goods and consolidates the existing asset freezing provisions.

The notice is informational, directing readers to the relevant UN Security Council resolutions and UK statutory instruments for full text. It does not itself impose new procedural filing requirements but confirms that the asset freezing regime concerning Iraq continues to apply in the Territory.

Key obligations

• Regulated entities and other persons in the Territory must continue to comply with the asset freezing obligations relating to Iraq as consolidated under the Iraq (United Nations Sanctions) (Overseas Territories) (Amendment) Order 2012.
• Persons dealing in goods must observe the updated definition of restricted goods under the amended 2003 Order.

Applies to

financial services providers, licensees regulated by the BVI Financial Services Commission