Guidance

Financial sanctions, Syria

This page contains the current list of those subject to sanctions under the financial sanctions Syria regime as well as information on the relevant regulations.

Published 4 June 2013
Last updated 11 September 2019 — see all updates

• From: HM Treasury and Office of Financial Sanctions Implementation

Documents

Current list of designated persons: Syria

PDF, 200KB, 24 pages

Latest HM Treasury notice, 11/09/2019, Syria (Corrigenda)

PDF, 115KB, 4 pages

HM Treasury notice, 22/05/2019, Syria (Reg 2019/798)

PDF, 276KB, 9 pages

HM Treasury notice, Syria 11/04/2019

PDF, 222KB, 3 pages

HM Treasury notice, Syria 18/03/2019

PDF, 207KB, 3 pages

Details

Sanctions

Syria is currently subject to financial sanctions put in place by the European Union (EU) and, therefore, imposed by the UK as a member of the EU.

You can view Council Regulation (EU) No 36/2012 on restrictive measures in Syria online.

Implementation date

Financial sanctions have been imposed by the EU since 2011.

Context

The Syria regime imposes asset freezes on those identified as being responsible for the violent repression of the civilian population in Syria.

There are several financial restrictions on those listed in relation to the:

• sale or purchase of certain Syrian public or guaranteed bonds
• establishment of new banking relationships and
• provision of certain insurance and re-insurance products.

There are further restrictions on the:

• purchase of certain goods in Syria and
• the export of such goods to Syria.

Exemptions

There are no licencing grounds available for the restrictions listed above. However, specific exemptions apply to certain activities, such as:

• providing humanitarian aid to civilians in Syria. These exemptions are contained in Council Regulation (EU) No 36/2012
• purchasing and transporting petroleum products in Syria. These exemptions are contained in Council Regulation (EU) No 36/2012 and are directed against the Assad regime.

Organisations providing humanitarian assistance to the civilian population in Syria are exempt from the prohibitions outlined in Article 6 of Council Regulation (EU) No 36/2012 if they have received funds from the:

• UK Government
• EU Commission
• EU Member States

Those who don’t receive such public funds will need to apply for a licence both from the Export Control Organisation (ECO) and OFSI. Please visit OFSI’s licensing page and ECO’s web pages for more information.

There are no exemptions for prohibitions in the relevant counter-terrorism sanctions regimes.

For more information about these regimes, please visit the OFSI’s page on terrorist financing

EU regulations

You can view Council Regulation (EU) No 36/2012 on restrictive measures in Syria online.

You can find the most recent amendments to the Regulation by searching on EUR-Lex – an online database that provides free access to EU law, international agreements and other public documents. Just:

• enter the Regulation number into the search bar
• open the relevant page and
• click ‘document information’

The European Commission has provided Frequently Asked Questions on EU restrictive measures in Syria to clarify certain provisions of EU Council Regulation No. 36/2012 and to facilitate its implementation.

UK regulations

UK Regulations and amendments relating to the Syria (European Union Financial Sanctions) Regulations 2012:

• 16.08.2013 The Syria (European Union Financial Sanctions) (Amendment No. 2) Regulations 2013 (S.I. 2013/1876)

• 07.05.2013 The Syria (European Union Financial Sanctions) (Amendment) Regulations 2013 (S.I. 2013/877)

• 26.10.2012 The Syria (European Union Financial Sanctions (Amendment No 2) Regulations (S.I. 2012/2524)

• 19.01.2012 The Syria (European Union Financial Sanctions) Regulations 2012 (S.I. 2012/129)

Published 4 June 2013
Last updated 11 September 2019 + show all updates

1. 11 September 2019 Updated with 'Latest HM Treasury notice, 11/09/2019, Syria (Corrigenda)'
2. 22 May 2019 Updated with 'Latest HM Treasury notice, 22/05/2019, Syria (Reg 2019/798)'.
3. 11 April 2019 Updated with 'Latest HM Treasury notice, 11/04/2019, Syria'.
4. 18 March 2019 Updated 'Latest HM Treasury notice, 18/03/2019'.
5. 5 March 2019 Updated with 'Latest HM Treasury notice, 05/03/2019 Syria (Reg 2019/350)'.
6. 4 March 2019 Updated with latest HM Treasury notice, 04/03/2019 Syria (Reg 2019/350).
7. 23 January 2019 Updated version of 'Current list of designated persons: Syria'.
8. 22 January 2019 Updated with 'Latest HM Treasury notice, 22/01/2019, Syria, (Reg 2019/85)'.
9. 27 July 2018 Updated with 'latest HM Treasury notice, 27/07/2018, Syria (Corrigenda)'.
10. 4 July 2018 Updated with the latest HM Treasury Notice, 04/07/2018, Syria, (Reg 2018/774).
11. 19 March 2018 Updated with latest HM Treasury notice, 19/03/2018, Syria (Reg 2018/420)
12. 27 February 2018 Updated with latest HM Treasury notice 27/02/2018 Syria (Reg 2018/282)
13. 11 December 2017 Updated links to Council Regulation
14. 26 October 2017 Updated to provide more clarity
15. 27 September 2017 Updated with latest HM Treasury notice 27/09/2017 Syria (Reg 2017/1751)
16. 8 August 2017 Updated text on the page to improve clarity
17. 21 July 2017 Latest HM Treasury Notice, 21/05/2017, Syria
18. 18 July 2017 Updated with latest HM Treasury Notice, 18/07/2017, Syria (Reg 2017/1327)
19. 11 July 2017 Updated with latest HM Treasury notice, 11/07/2017, Syria (Reg 2017/1241)
20. 16 June 2017 Updated with latest HM Treasury notice 16/06/2017 Syria
21. 7 June 2017 Updated with latest HM Treasury Notice, 07/06/2017, Syria (Reg 2017/907)
22. 21 March 2017 Updated with Latest HM Treasury Notice, 21/03/2017, Syria (Reg 2017/480)
23. 12 December 2016 Link added to 'Current EU regulations' section.
24. 9 December 2016 Updated with: Latest HM Treasury notice, 09/12/2016, Syria (Reg 2016/2137)
25. 21 November 2016 Updated with: Latest Treasury Notice, 17/11/2016, Syria (Reg 2016/1996)
26. 15 November 2016 Updated to include: Latest HM Treasury notice, 15/11/2016, Syria (Reg 2016/1984)
27. 28 October 2016 Updated with: HM Treasury notice, 28/10/2016, Syria (Reg 2016/1893)
28. 6 October 2016 Updated with HM Treasury notice, 21/09/2016, Syria (Reg 2016/1735)
29. 2 June 2016 Updated list: OFSI, 02/06/2016, Syria Reg (2016/840)
30. 18 December 2015 New notice and list published
31. 29 September 2015 Updated to include latest notice
32. 29 June 2015 Amend to page main text, no amends to list - Council Regulation (EU) No 2015/82 added under 'current EU regulations'
33. 23 June 2015 New notice Syria (Reg 2015/961) added
34. 2 June 2015 Updated list - due to notice 36/2012
35. 20 May 2015 amending Regulation (EU) No 36/2012
36. 9 March 2015 Updated sanctions list added
37. 20 February 2015 Updated to include latest notice
38. 27 January 2015 Updated with (Reg 2015/108)
39. 23 December 2014 Updated with latest notice and links to EU Council Regulation
40. 22 October 2014 Updated to include Syria (Reg 1105/2014)
41. 3 October 2014 updated list
42. 30 September 2014 Added notice Syria (Reg 1013/2014)
43. 25 July 2014 corrected regime list
44. 24 July 2014 added notice: Syria (Reg 793/2014)
45. 25 June 2014 added notice (Reg 693/2014)
46. 30 May 2014 New notice and updated list of designated persons published
47. 12 February 2014 added new notice
48. 17 December 2013 added Latest HM Treasury Notice, 17/12/2013 Syria
49. 22 August 2013 added 16.08.2013 The Syria (European Union Financial Sanctions) (Amendment No. 2) Regulations 2013 (S.I. 2013/1876) 07.05.2013 The Syria (European Union Financial Sanctions) (Amendment) Regulations 2013 (S.I. 2013/877)
50. 8 August 2013 New notice published on 08/08/13
51. 24 July 2013 added Latest HM Treasury Notice , 24.07.2013 Syria (Reg 697/2013)
52. 4 June 2013 First published.