Ownership And Control Test Under UK Sanctions Clarified Following Mints Judgment

The UK Office of Financial Sanctions Implementation (OFSI) and the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO) recently published important guidance on the meaning of 'ownership and control' in the context of UK sanctions regulations, including the Russia (Sanctions) (EU Exit) Regulations 2019 (Russia Regulations). The guidance comes following the controversial judgment in the case of Mints v. National Bank Trust and Bank Otkritie,¹ handed down by the UK Court of Appeal in October 2023.

The Court of Appeal's decision in Mints

The case concerned a claim brought by National Bank Trust and Bank Otkritie against Boris Mints and others, in which the defendants appealed against the refusal of their application for a stay of proceedings on the basis that the claimants were sanctioned or controlled by designated persons (DPs). The Court of Appeal's judgment considered the following three key issues: