On Friday 29 January 2021, the Minister for External Relations made the Sanctions and Asset-Freezing (Implementation of External Sanctions) (Jersey) Order 2021, under the Sanctions and Asset-Freezing (Jersey) Law 2019. It will come into force on Friday 12 February.

Following the end of the UK-EU Withdrawal Agreement at the end of 2020, the UK ceased implementing EU sanctions, and its own UK sanctions regulations came into force. To remain aligned with the UK on sanctions, it is necessary for Jersey to implement the new UK sanctions regulations.

Jersey will no longer give effect to UN Security Council or autonomous EU sanctions regimes by implementing the relevant EU regulations. The Island will instead give effect to UNSC and autonomous UK sanctions regimes by implementing the relevant UK sanctions regulations made under the Sanctions and Money Laundering Act 2018. This includes all relevant sanctions designations, including all asset-freeze designations. Jersey will continue to implement all UNSC, UK, and EU terrorist asset-freeze designations.

The UK sanctions regulations that will be implemented by the Order have been drafted to have substantially the same effect as the EU sanctions regulations they are replacing. However, though the regimes are largely the same, there are some differences now and there may be increased divergence over time.

You can view the UK-specific guidance on individual UK sanctions regimes that have been published by the Office of Financial Sanctions Implementation (OFSI) on gov.uk. This guidance includes an overview of the categories of prohibitions (e.g. asset-freezes, investment and financial services restrictions) in force under different regimes.

Jersey’s own sanctions guidance is being updated and will be published on gov.je and the JFSC website on 12 February. A webinar is planned for Wednesday 3 March, with further details to follow Government and JFSC channels.