UK Sanctions / Crown Dependencies — Beneficial Ownership Registers (Sanctions and AML Act 2018)

Summary

The Sanctions and Anti-Money Laundering Act 2018 is the primary UK sanctions authority post-Brexit. It also enables the UK to require Crown Dependencies and Overseas Territories to establish public beneficial ownership registers. This creates a framework to trace assets held by Sri Lankan officials in offshore jurisdictions linked to the UK.

Relevance to the diaspora

Tamil diaspora accountability advocates can use SAMLA and associated BVI/Cayman Islands beneficial ownership information to trace assets of Sri Lankan officials connected to war crimes; such asset tracing supports Magnitsky designation requests and unexplained wealth order applications.

Key provisions

• s.1 — power to make sanctions regulations
• s.40 — power to require Crown Dependencies to establish beneficial ownership registers
• s.44 — review and reporting of sanctions regimes
• Schedule 1 — purposes for which sanctions may be imposed

Primary source

Related entries

• → Global Human Rights Sanctions Regulations 2020 (UK Magnitsky) (UK)
• → Criminal Finances Act 2017 / Unexplained Wealth Orders (UK)
• → Proceeds of Crime Act 2002 (UK)

Where this law is used in the archive

No dossier, desk or evidence pack currently relies on this entry. It is indexed and sourced, but not yet load-bearing anywhere in the archive.