UK Details Amount of Russian Assets Frozen by Overseas Territories, Crown Dependencies
The U.K.'s overseas territories have frozen Russian assets worth over an estimated $9 billion, including $8.4 billion by the Cayman Islands and over $400 million by the British Virgin Islands, the British government said Oct. 26. Releasing its response to the House of Commons Foreign Affairs Committee June 2022 report, "The cost of complacency: illicit finance and the war in Ukraine," the government also said crown dependencies have frozen assets worth over $1.15 billion, including nearly $2.2 million by the Isle of Man and nearly $5.8 million by Guernsey.
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The government said it agrees with the committee that imposing new sanctions at pace is at the core of an effective sanctions response but said it's vital to ensure cases are properly prepared and enough evidence is gathered before more listings are made. The Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office set up a permanent Sanctions Directorate to focus on the U.K.'s Russia sanctions response and the other sanctions regimes, the government said. The sanctions unit had 48 "substantive roles" in December; by the end of April about 150 worked in the unit, "consisting of an increased number of substantive roles" and others detailed on a temporary basis from other office units.