Anti-Money Laundering Newsletter - April 2021 | International sanctions regime

European Council renews EU terrorist list for another six months

As part of the fight against terrorism, on February 5, 2021 the Council renewed the EU terrorist list, which contains persons, groups and entities subject to restrictive measures involving the freezing of their funds and other financial assets in the EU. EU operators are also forbidden from making funds and economic resources available to them.

The Council first set up the list to implement UNSC Resolution 1373/2001 adopted following the attacks on September 11, 2001. It regularly reviews the list at least every six months, on the basis of a regular exchange of information among member states.

This sanctions regime is separate from the EU regime implementing UN Security Council Resolutions 1267 (1999), 1989 (2011) and 2253 (2015) and targeting Al-Qaida and ISIL / Da’esh. The EU also has its own sanctions regime which allows the EU to apply sanctions independently to ISIL / Da’esh and Al-Qaida and to persons and entities associated with or supporting them.

The EU revokes sanctions framework against Egypt and delists individuals

The European Council has decided to revoke the EU framework for sanctions against persons responsible for offenses related to misappropriation of Egyptian State funds, so as to be able to eliminate restrictive measures in force against some Egyptian citizens.

Restrictive measures were initially adopted in 2011, to assist the Egyptian authorities with recovering misappropriated state assets.

These measures consist of freezing the assets of individuals on the list of sanctioned persons. In addition, nationals of EU member states and legal entities incorporated in the EU were forbidden from making funds available to anyone on the list, either directly or indirectly. The sanctions have been reviewed on an annual basis, and some individuals have been delisted over time.

The EU’s restrictive measures are not punitive. Their purpose is to bring about a positive change in the third countries concerned.

United States singles out Cuba as state sponsor of terrorism

The U.S. Department of State singles out Cuba as State sponsor of terrorism on the grounds that it repeatedly provided support for acts of international terrorism, granting a safe haven to terrorists, according to its secretary’s announcement on January 11, 2021. Cuba is therefore back on the list of entities registered for allegedly breaching their commitment to cease providing support for terrorism, as a condition for its removal by the previous Administration in 2015.

This decision renders Cuba subject to sanctions which penalize persons and countries that engage in trade with the Caribbean country. It restricts U.S. foreign assistance, bans defense exports and sales and imposes certain controls on exports of dual use items.