{"text":[[{"start":6.5,"text":"The UK’s sanctions enforcement body is looking to bring penalties against companies that have unlawfully dealt with Iran, in a warning shot to banks and other financial services firms."}],[{"start":16.25,"text":"In a rare interview, Giles Thomson, the head of Britain’s Office of Financial Sanctions Implementation (OFSI), said that the body was “increasingly looking” to take action over Iran."}],[{"start":28.45,"text":"“In recent months, Iran sanctions have expanded in scope and we’re also increasingly looking at where there might be enforcement action we might want to take there,” he told the FT."}],[{"start":38.35,"text":"The UK restored its sanctions against Iranian individuals and companies in September after the country failed to uphold commitments on its nuclear and ballistic missile programme. The majority of OFSI’s enforcement action is taken against financial services firms."}],[{"start":54.05,"text":"Thomson’s comments come shortly after the US issued a temporary oil waiver on Iranian sanctions to allow the Islamic republic to sell oil, including in US dollars."}],[{"start":65.7,"text":"OFSI, which was created a decade ago to better ensure business complies with sanctions, has stepped up enforcement recently. "}],[{"start":73.65,"text":"In January, it fined Lloyds Banking Group £160,000 for opening a bank account for an ally of Russian President Vladimir Putin, who became the first person to be convicted under current Russian sanctions legislation. This was followed by fines against Deutsche Bank and Apple for breaching the UK’s Russia sanctions. "}],[{"start":95.45,"text":"The Apple case was the first time OFSI issued a financial penalty against a non-UK entity, as well as the first under its new settlement scheme, which allows for fine discounts in exchange for subjects waiving their right to appeal."}],[{"start":109.60000000000001,"text":"Russia is still OFSI’s “number one priority”, according to Thomson. The office has grown from about 30 people to 140 since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine."}],[{"start":120.00000000000001,"text":"While OFSI’s penalties are fairly low by comparison to multinational profits — the highest financial sanction was £20mn against Standard Chartered in 2020 — the department is awaiting legislation to increase them. "}],[{"start":135.10000000000002,"text":"Currently, penalties are capped at either £1mn or 50 per cent of the breach value. This will increase to £2mn or 100 per cent, with the law change expected “in the next few months”, said Thomson."}],[{"start":148.45000000000002,"text":"The department has also been working more closely with the US. "}],[{"start":151.70000000000002,"text":"Secondees from OFSI and America’s Office of Foreign Assets Control have been embedded in each other’s operations, with a joint penalty expected in future."}],[{"start":160.95000000000002,"text":"“It’s very much a hope that at one point we’ll see a joint enforcement action,” Thomson said."}],[{"start":166.10000000000002,"text":"OFSI has also been working more closely with other UK bodies. The department is about to second someone to the Bank of England for the first time, Thomson said."}],[{"start":175.90000000000003,"text":"Alongside Iran, OFSI is prioritising a clampdown on the use of cryptocurrencies to avoid sanctions, an asset class that most law enforcement agencies are grappling with."}],[{"start":187.50000000000003,"text":"“We’ve got way more cases than we could ever hope to do,” Thomson, a career civil servant, said. “So we have to prioritise and look at ways that we think will have most impact and are best in the public interest.”"}],[{"start":206.40000000000003,"text":""}]],"url":"https://audio.ftcn.net.cn/album/a_1782723630_9181.mp3"}