The Iran (European Community Financial Sanctions) (Amendment) Regulations 2010

EXPLANATORY NOTE

(This note is not part of the Regulations)

These Regulations amend the Iran (European Community Financial Sanctions) Regulations 2007 (S.I. 2007/1374) (“the 2007 Regulations”). The 2007 Regulations enforce provisions of Council Regulation (EC) No 423/2007 of 19th April 2007 (OJ L 103, 20.4.07, p1) (“the EC Regulation”) which relate to financial sanctions against persons listed by the European Council who are engaged in, directly associated with or providing support for Iran’s proliferation-sensitive nuclear activities or the development of nuclear weapons delivery systems. The measures include the freezing of funds, financial assets and economic resources of such persons and ensuring that any funds, financial assets and economic resources are not made available to them or for their benefit.

These measures are now contained in Council Regulation (EU) No 961/2010 of 25th October 2010 on restrictive measures against Iran and repealing Regulation (EC) No 423/2007 (OJ L 281, 27.10.10, p1) (“the EU Regulation”), which came into force on 27th October 2010.

The list in Annex VIII of the EU Regulation is established by Council Decision 2010/413/CFSP of 26 July 2010 (OJ L 195, 27.7.10, p39), as amended by Council Decision 2010/644/CFSP of 25 October 2010 (OJ L 281, 27.10.10, p81).

These Regulations amend the 2007 Regulations so that the penalties in the 2007 Regulations for breaches of the EC Regulation apply to breaches of the EU Regulation.

Regulation 3 substitutes a definition of the EU Regulation for a definition of the EC Regulation.

Regulation 4 substitutes references to persons listed in Annex VIII of the EU Regulation for references to persons listed in Annex V of the EC Regulation.

Regulation 5 amends regulation 8 of the 2007 Regulations, which permits a frozen account to be credited with payments due under pre-existing contracts. The amendment amends the date before which the contract must have come into existence to reflect the terms of the EU Regulation, so that it is not an offence to credit the frozen account of a designated person with payments due under a contract which was concluded prior to the date upon which the designated person was listed by the EU.

Regulation 6 provides that a licence granted under the 2007 Regulations which was in force immediately before these Regulations came into force shall continue to have effect.

An impact assessment has not been produced for this instrument as no impact on the private or voluntary sectors is foreseen. Further information is available from the Asset Freezing Unit, HM Treasury, 1 Horse Guards Road, London SW1A 2HQ, and on HM Treasury’s website (www.hmtreasury.gov.uk).