The Minister for External Relations, Senator Ian Gorst, has lodged a new Sanctions and Asset-Freezing Law.
The law would preserve Jersey’s power to impose EU sanctions and would also allow Jersey to impose UK sanctions made under the UK’s Sanctions and Anti-Money Laundering Act after the UK leaves the EU. This means Jersey would retain the ability to impose the same sanctions as the UK following Brexit.
The new law would also bring together several other laws relating to the freezing of assets. This will include the Terrorist Asset-Freezing Law 2011 and the United Nations Financial Sanctions Law 2017.
Senator Gorst commented: “Allowing Jersey to impose the same sanctions as the UK is important because of the close links between our financial services industries. It also demonstrates our continuing commitment to fighting financial crime.”
He explained that the new law would also consolidate different laws into one piece of legislation. “The Sanctions and Asset-Freezing Law would bring together all the major sanctions legislation. This would ensure that the island can continue to meet its international obligations to counter terrorist financing and to implement UN sanctions.”
Sanctions are used by the United Nations as a means of maintaining international peace and security, and by countries, either acting alone or together with others, to change the behaviour of a target country or regime.