Sanctions

What are Sanctions?

Sanctions are restrictive measures imposed on individuals or entities in an effort to curtail their activities and to exert pressure and influence on them. These restrictive measures include, but are not limited to, financial sanctions, trade sanctions, restrictions on travel or civil aviation restrictions.

Financial sanctions emanate from the UN and the EU and are contained in sanctions lists. All natural and legal persons are obliged to comply with financial sanctions and can do so by monitoring the EU and UN lists, to identify sanctions relevant to you and/or your business, and taking appropriate action as required (see below).

The AMLCU will periodically issue notifications to cohorts of designated persons that it supervises with updates on sanctions relevant to that sector. These notifications are also available on our website.

What you need to do?

Once a person or entity is designated (‘sanctioned’) by the UN Sanctions Committees or set out on the EU lists, you as a ‘designated person’ should:

  1. Refrain from getting involved in a business relationship or conducting any transactions with the sanctioned person or entity and
  2. Submit a suspicious transaction report to An Garda Síochána and to the Revenue Commissioners

What Penalties are imposed for breach of Sanctions?

The penalties in Irish law for a breach of sanctions are contained in a statutory instrument. A list of Irish statutory instruments in force relating to penalties for the breach of financial sanctions can be found in the Irish Statute Book.

Want more information?

To stay up to date with the latest sanctions regimes in place, and for detailed information, please refer to the Department of Foreign Affairs website.

The Central Bank is the competent authority for financial sanctions in Ireland. Information and guidance is available on the Central Bank’s website here: International Financial Sanctions | Central Bank of Ireland

The Central Bank has published information on the latest 2022 sanctions updates on its website here: Financial Sanctions Updates 2022 I Central Bank of Ireland | Central Bank of Ireland.

For the most up to date information regarding sanctions from the European Commission please visit their website here. This includes an online tool for the public to report sanctions violations. It also includes a link to the EU Sanctions Map, a useful tool providing details of all EU sanctions regimes and their corresponding legal acts, including those regimes adopted by the UN Security Council and transposed at EU level.