Jersey acts in line with the UK on matters of foreign policy and implements all UK sanctions deployed in response to Russia's actions. These are autonomous sanctions which are wide-ranging and include asset freezing designations which target persons, both legal and natural, with restrictions on assets and services.
A broad range of financial, trade, shipping and immigration sanctions have been imposed against Russia for its invasion of Ukraine.
The Russia (Sanctions) (EU Exit) Regulations 2019 (the “UK Regulations") were made under the Sanctions and Anti-Money Laundering Act 2018 and provide for the freezing of funds and economic resources of certain persons, entities or bodies involved in destabilising Ukraine or undermining or threatening the territorial integrity, sovereignty or independence of Ukraine, or obtaining a benefit from or supporting the Government of Russia.
The Sanctions and Asset-Freezing (Implementation of External Sanctions) (Jersey) Order 2021 (the “Order"), made under the Sanctions and Asset-Freezing (Jersey) Law 2019 (“SAFL"), links to the UK Regulations.
All persons (natural and legal) must comply with sanctions prohibitions, and all financial institutions have responsibility for monitoring and ensuring compliance with sanctions which are implemented in Jersey by the Minister for External Relations.
The Government of Jersey publishes important updates to legislation and changes to sanctions designations on the Jersey Gazette and you should sign up for e-alerts.
Jersey guidance on the Russia sanctions regime is available on sanctions by country and category on the JFSC website.
A copy of the UK Regulations can be obtained from legislation.gov.uk and other relevant information about the Russia regime can be found on financial sanctions targets by regime on GOV.UK.
Russia sanctions: guidance
Detailed guidance on the UK sanctions regime against Russia can be found on the Office of Financial Sanctions Implementation ("OFSI") Russia guidance page.
Supplementary guidance can be found on OFSI's UK Financial Sanctions FAQ page.
If you are unsure about your obligations in a given case, you should consider seeking independent legal advice.
Sanctions and restrictions
The UK has imposed sanctions on hundreds of designated persons (legal and natural), including President Putin and Russia's foreign minister Sergey Lavrov. The measures included travel bans and asset freezes and will prevent those targeted from conducting business within the UK and Jersey.
All these restrictions apply in Jersey.
Russia sectoral measures
Sanctions that cover investment and financial restrictions on Russian companies include:
measures to prevent Russian banks from clearing payments in sterling
measures that prohibit transactions with the Central Bank of the Russian Federation, Russian Ministry of Finance and Russian National Wealth Fund
prohibitions on securities and money-market instruments
prohibitions on issuing loans and credit
trade, aviation and shipping sanctions measures
prohibitions on energy-related goods and related activity
Specification of ships
The Russia (Sanctions) (EU Exit) Regulations 2019 (the "UK Russia Regulations") provide that the UK Secretary of State may specify a ship for the purposes of shipping sanctions if the ship is, has been, or is likely to be, involved in a relevant activity (as defined in regulation 57F of the UK Russia Regulations).
The UK Sanctions List provides details of the ships specified under the UK Russia Regulations, and details of the sanctions in respect of which they have been specified.
Professional and business-related services
Regulation 54C of the UK Russia Regulations, as implemented in Jersey, prohibits providing certain professional and business-related services
to Russia-connected persons. However, there is an exemption to enable the fulfilment of statutory and regulatory obligations in
respect of these prohibitions. The exemption is detailed in Regulation 60DA of the UK Russia Regulations.
The exemption under Regulation 60DA is also implemented in Jersey. Further guidance on these prohibitions and exemption can be found below.
Professional and business-related services: Exemption Guidance
Crypto assets
Crypto assets are an economic resource, and as such are caught by Jersey's sanctions legislation. Attempting to circumvent sanctions using crypto assets is prohibited in the same way that it would be for any traditional fiat currency. Any reports of suspected non-compliance should be reported to the Minister in the same way.
Russian sanctions: can you sanction Crypto?
Reporting obligations
Any person who conducts a financial services business in Jersey, or any legal person incorporated or constituted under the law of Jersey that carries on such business in any part of the world, must report as soon as practicable if it has reasonable cause to believe that it holds an account, has entered into dealings or an agreement with, or been approached by or on behalf of a person who is a designated person or who has committed, is committing or intends to commit an offence under the Jersey sanctions legislation.
Reports must also include any information on any actions taken in compliance with obligations imposed under Article 37 of the Proceeds of Crime (Jersey) Law 1999 (under which the Money Laundering (Jersey) Order 2008 is made).
Sanctions Compliance Reporting Form
Additional reporting requirements – Russia regime
On 26 December 2023 the UK Government updated the UK Regulations through the Russia (Sanctions) (EU Exit) (Amendment) (No. 4) Regulations 2023 (the “UK Amendment Regulations").
Regulation 16 and Regulation 17 of the UK Amendment Regulations introduced two additional reporting requirements which are effective in Jersey subject to the general modifications provisions of Schedule 2 of the Order, and which place an obligation on designated Persons and Relevant Financial Institutions to report to the Minister for External Relations (the “Minister").
Immobilised Assets reporting requirements
Since 26 December 2023 a Relevant Financial Institution is required to inform the Minister as soon as practicable if it knows, or has reasonable cause to suspect, that it holds funds or economic resources for:
The National Wealth Fund of the Russian Federation,
The Ministry of Finance of the Russian Federation,
A person owned or controlled directly or indirectly by these entities, or
A person acting on behalf of or at the direction of these entities.
To comply with this requirement, please send a completed version of the
Immobilised Assets Reporting Form, including any associated documents, to sanctions@gov.je.
Where a Relevant Financial Institution knows, or has reasonable cause to suspect, that it holds any such funds or economic resources as listed above, it is also required to submit an annual report to the Minister for so long as those funds or economic resources continue to be held. The annual report must be made by 30 November in each year as to the nature and amount or quantity of funds and economic resources held by that firm as of 30 September in that calendar year.
Designated Person reporting requirements
If you are a designated person under the Russia (Sanctions) (EU Exit) Regulations 2019, since 26 December 2023 you are required to disclose any funds or economic resources you own, hold or control to the Minster. This requirement requires designated persons to provide the Minister with details of their Jersey assets (or their worldwide assets if they are Jersey Persons). A Jersey Person in this context is an individual who is ordinarily resident in Jersey, or a person incorporated or constituted under the law of Jersey.
The UK Amendment Regulations required a report to be provided within 10 weeks of the relevant date, which is either:
10 weeks after the date the legislation came into force on 26 December 2023, or
10 weeks after the date of your designation if you were designated after 26 December 2023.
The deadline for reporting was Tuesday 5 March 2024 and therefore any such assets that have not already been reported to the Minister, must be reported immediately. Further, any new assets obtained or assets which have been disposed of since Tuesday 5 March 2024 must be reported to the Minister as soon as practicable.
Please use the following forms, as appropriate, to comply with this reporting obligation:
DP Reporting Template - Jersey Persons
DP Reporting Template – Non-Jersey Persons
Designated persons must report any funds or economic resource if the value of those funds or economic resources exceeds the value of £10,000. If multiple funds or economic resources of the same type (for example, jewellery, art, bank accounts), taken together exceed £10,000, this must also be reported.
A completed version of the relevant form, along with any additional attachments you wish to provide, should be sent to sanctions@gov.je. Before submitting the form, please make sure you sign the declaration in Part 5.
Assets reported and frozen
The Minister for External Relations remains committed to publishing the value of the assets reported to him as frozen under the Russia sanctions regime.
The following figure is accurate as of 31 October 2024 to the best of the Minister's knowledge at the time of publication:
- in line with the reporting obligations of financial institutions, 389 sanctions compliance reports have been submitted to the Minister in connection with the Russia sanctions regime
- the reports concern a number of issues relating to sanctions compliance, including, but not limited to, assets that have been frozen
- the reports of frozen assets received by the Minister totalled £1,385,600,000 (rounded to the nearest £100,000)
Where reports have been received of assets frozen in currencies other than pounds, they have been converted. The value of assets reported as frozen in Jersey may fluctuate for numerous reasons, including changes to asset-freeze designations, further investigation to verify or clarify the value of assets, additional information being reported, or certain financial activity being licensed.
Licensing
It is possible to apply for a licence to undertake certain activities that would otherwise be prohibited. Further details are available on sanctions licences and exceptions. However, the grounds available for making a licence application will vary depending on which activity you wish to undertake and therefore you are advised to consider taking independent legal advice before making a licence application.
On 18 September 2023, the Sanctions and Asset-Freezing (Amendment of Law and Order No. 2) (Jersey) Order 2023 (the “GL Order") came into force. The GL Order provides for the automatic effect in Jersey of all UK General Licences made under the Russia (Sanctions) (EU Exit) Regulations 2019, subject to any necessary modifications.
We strongly recommend you review the list of active UK General Licences under the Russia Regime prior to submitting a sanctions licence application. This list can be found on the Gov.UK website under OFSI General Licences.
It should be noted however that many of the provisions used in UK General Licences are drafted for a specific UK-context (e.g. referring to UK legislation) and it is recommended that you consider taking legal advice before seeking to rely on them.
All reporting requirements also apply to the UK General Licence and reports should be submitted to the Minister for External Relations in line with the terms of the licence.
Other information
A recording of a webinar, jointly run by Jersey Financial Services Commission and the Government of Jersey is available online. Link provided below.
Joint risk statement to the financial services industry: Customer relationships associated with Russia and Belarus
Russian sanctions regime webinar
How sanctions are implemented
General sanctions information on the JFSC website
gov.je