(This note is not part of the Regulations)
These Regulations make provision relating to the enforcement of Council Regulation (EC) No. 765/2006 of 18 May 2006 (OJ L 134, 20.5.2006, p.1) concerning restrictive measures in respect of Belarus (“the Council Regulation”).
The measures include the freezing of funds and economic resources of designated persons and ensuring that funds and economic resources are not made available to them or for their benefit.
Council Regulation (EU) No. 1014/2012 of 6 November 2012 (OJ L 307, 7.11.2012, p.1) clarifies and consolidates the criteria for listing natural or legal persons, entities and bodies in Annexes I, IA and IB to the Council Regulation and also consolidates those Annexes into a single annex, Annex I.
Regulation 2 defines a designated person as any person named in Annex I to the Council Regulation (as amended from time to time).
Regulations 3 to 7 provide prohibitions against dealing with the funds or economic resources of a designated person or making funds or economic resources available, directly or indirectly, to or for the benefit of, a designated person.
Regulation 8 provides an exception to the prohibitions in regulations 4 and 5 where a frozen account is credited for a permitted reason.
Regulation 9 provides a licensing procedure to enable funds and economic resources to be exempted from the prohibitions.
Regulation 10 makes it an offence to breach any of the prohibitions in regulations 3 to 7 or to seek to circumvent those prohibitions. Regulations 12 to 15 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 18 revokes the Belarus (Asset-Freezing) Regulations 2012 which currently make provision relating to the enforcement of the Council Regulation.
Regulation 19 provides that licences which were granted under those revoked Regulations continue to have effect for the purposes of these Regulations.
The Schedule makes provision for information gathering and information disclosure.
A list of designated persons is available on the Internet at: www.hm-treasury.gov.uk/fin_sanctions_index.htm.
An impact assessment has not been produced for this instrument as no impact on the costs of business and the voluntary sector 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.hm-treasury.gov.uk).