The Iraq (United Nations Sanctions) (Overseas Territories) (Amendment) Order 2012 (S.I. 2012/2748)

Summary

This UK Order in Council updates and consolidates United Nations asset-freezing sanctions relating to Iraq as they apply across a list of British Overseas Territories, including the Cayman Islands and the Virgin Islands. It re-enacts the prohibitions on dealing with, or making available, funds and economic resources belonging to UN-designated persons, sets out a licensing regime and offences, and revokes earlier Iraq sanctions orders while amending the 2003 Order's definition of restricted goods.

• Asset freeze offences: Creates criminal offences for dealing with, or making funds or economic resources available (directly or indirectly) to or for the benefit of, a designated person, where the person knows or has reasonable cause to suspect this.
• Licensing regime: Allows the Governor, with consent of the Secretary of State, to grant, vary or revoke licences authorising otherwise prohibited activity; making false statements to obtain a licence is itself an offence.
• Publication of designated persons list: Requires the Governor to publish and keep up to date a list of designated persons, in any form considered appropriate including a website.
• Penalties: Sets penalties up to seven years' imprisonment on indictment (or up to six months and a fine of up to £5,000 on summary conviction) for the main freezing offences, with lower penalties for related offences such as false statements or breaches of information/evidence requirements.
• Revocations and amendments: Revokes the Iraq (UN Sanctions) (Overseas Territories) Orders of 2000, 2001 and parts of the 2003 and 2004 Orders, and amends the definition of 'restricted goods' in the 2003 Order to refer to the Export Control Order 2008.

The Order applies to persons and bodies in the listed territories, relevant British nationals ordinarily resident there, and bodies incorporated under the law of those territories, with particular relevance to deposit-taking and other financial institutions that may hold funds or accounts for designated persons.

Key obligations

• Persons and relevant institutions must not deal with funds or economic resources belonging to, or owned, held or controlled by, a designated person where they know or have reasonable cause to suspect this (article 4).
• Persons must not make funds or economic resources available, directly or indirectly, to a designated person or for their benefit (articles 5 to 8).
• Persons must not knowingly or recklessly make false statements or provide false documents or information to obtain a licence under article 11.
• Persons must not intentionally participate in activity designed to circumvent or facilitate contravention of the freezing prohibitions (article 14).
• The Governor must publish a list of designated persons and keep it up to date (article 16).
• The Governor must give written notice of the grant, variation or revocation of a licence to the relevant licence holder, or publicise general licences appropriately (article 11(6)).

Applies to

relevant institutions (deposit-taking institutions), persons in the Territory, British citizens, British overseas territories citizens and other specified British nationals ordinarily resident in the Territory, bodies incorporated or constituted under the law of the Territory, designated persons

Deadlines

• 5th December 2012: Date on which the Order comes into force.
• 12 months beginning with the date the person first enters the Territory after committing the offence: Time limit for instituting summary proceedings for an offence alleged to have been committed outside the Territory.