The Zimbabwe (Financial Sanctions) Regulations 2009

Explanatory Note

(This note is not part of the Regulations)

These Regulations enforce the provisions of Council Regulation (EC) No. 314/2004 of 19th February 2004 (O.J. L 55, 24.2.2004, p.1) (“the EC Regulation”) which relate to restrictive measures in respect of the Government of Zimbabwe and those connected with it. These Regulations replace the Zimbabwe (Freezing of Funds and Economic Resources) Regulations 2004 (S.I. 2004/816).

The measures include the freezing of funds and economic resources belonging to individual members of the Government of Zimbabwe and to persons associated with them and a prohibition on making funds or economic resources available to such persons.

Regulation 3 defines designated persons as any person named in Annex III to the EC Regulation (as amended from time to time) or any person who is the subject of a Treasury direction. Regulation 4 provides that the Treasury can make directions designating a person who is reasonably suspected of being a person listed in Annex III to the EC Regulation. Regulation 5 makes provision for giving notice when the Treasury make a direction under regulation 4 and regulation 15 makes further provision about notices.

Regulations 6 and 7 set out the prohibitions against dealing with funds and economic resources belonging to designated persons and against making funds or economic resources available, directly or indirectly, to or for the benefit of designated persons. Contravention of the prohibitions is an offence.

Regulation 8 provides for exceptions to the prohibitions allowed by the EC Regulation. These permit the crediting of frozen accounts with interest and payments due under contracts and obligations entered into before the account became frozen, and permit a relevant institution to credit a frozen account with funds received from a third party.

Regulation 9 provides that it is an offence to circumvent the prohibitions.

Regulation 10 provides a licensing procedure to enable funds to be exempted from the asset freeze for certain specific purposes. These include payment of basic expenses, legal expenses, expenses for the routine holding or maintenance of frozen funds or for other extraordinary expenses.

Regulations 11 to 13 contain provisions about penalties, proceedings and who, in relation to bodies corporate and other bodies, may be prosecuted for an offence under the Regulations.

Regulation 16 provides that the provisions of the Regulations apply to the Crown but, in the event of a contravention, the Crown is not criminally liable.

The Schedule makes provision about evidence and information gathering powers.

A list of persons designated under the EC Regulation is available at www.hm-treasury.gov.uk//fin_sanctions_index.htm.

An impact assessment on the effect that this instrument will have on the costs of business may be obtained from the Asset Freezing Unit, HM Treasury, 1 Horse Guards Road, London SW1A 2HQ and is also available on HM Treasury's website (www.hm-treasury.gov.uk). A copy of the impact assessment is annexed to the Explanatory Memorandum which is available on the OPSI website ( www.opsi.gov.uk).