The Treasury has the power to issue General Licences for financial and trade sanctions regimes under a number of Regulations. Treasury licences permit acts that would normally be prohibited by the Regulations to take place, and may be general or specific in nature. The Treasury licences outlined below correspond to general licences issued by HM Treasury this week, following the extension of financial and trade sanctions against Russia.
On 04 March 2022, the Treasury issued the above General Licences under regulation 64 of the Russia Sanctions (EU Exit) Regulations 2019, as they apply to the Isle of Man by the Russia Sanctions (Application) Regulations 2020 [SD 2020/0504] (“the Regulations”).
Any persons intending to use any of the above General Licences should consult the copy of the Sanctions Licence for full details of the permissions and usage requirements which can be found here.
General Licence IOM/2022/RUS002 allows a Person (other than VTB Bank or any of its Isle of Man subsidiaries (should there be any)) to wind down any transactions to which it is a party, involving VTB Bank or any of its Isle of Man subsidiaries including the closing out of any positions. A Person, Relevant Institution, or VTB Bank or its Isle of Man subsidiaries can carry out any activity reasonably necessary to effect this.
The General Licence takes effect from date of issue and expires on 27 March 2022.
General Licence IOM/2022/RUS003 which allows for a wind down period until 24 June 2022 to allow an IOM credit or financial institution to process a sterling payment to, from or via:
- Sberbank
- a non- IOM credit or financial institution which is owned or controlled directly or indirectly (within the meaning of regulation 7 of the Russia Regulations) by Sberbank, or
- an IOM credit or financial institution which is owned or controlled directly or indirectly (within the meaning of regulation 7 of the Russia Regulations) by Sberbank
for the purpose of making Relevant Energy Products available for use in the Isle of Man.
Relevant Institutions may process GBP payments made in accordance with the permissions above.
An IOM credit or financial institution must keep accurate, complete and readable records, on paper or electronically, of any activity purporting to have been permitted under this licence for a minimum of 6 years.
The General Licence takes effect from the date of issue and expires on 24 June 2022.
General Licence IOM/2022/RUS004 which allows for a 30 day wind down period to allow an IOM credit or financial institution to continue a correspondent banking relationship with Sberbank. An IOM credit or financial institution may process a sterling payment to, from or via:
- Sberbank
- a non- IOM credit or financial institution which is owned or controlled directly or indirectly (within the meaning of regulation 7 of the Russia Regulations) by Sberbank, or
- an IOM credit or financial institution which is owned or controlled directly or indirectly (within the meaning of regulation 7 of the Russia Regulations) by Sberbank.
Relevant Institutions may process GBP payments made in accordance with the permissions above.
The General Licence takes effect from the date of issue and expires at 23:59 on 31 March 2022.
General Licence IOM/2022/RUS005 permits a Person to take actions which would otherwise be prohibited under regulations 16 and 17 of the Regulations (financial and investment restrictions). The licence allows for a wind down period in respect of sovereign debt, loans and money-market instruments measures. A Person may directly or indirectly, deal with a transferable security or money-market instrument falling within regulation 16 of the Regulations. They may also, directly or indirectly grant or enter into an arrangement to grant a Category 1 Loan, Category 2 Loan, and Category 3 Loan, falling within Regulation 17(1) and 17(2) of the Regulations.
The General Licence takes effect from the date of issue and expires at 23:59 on 11 March 2022.
General Licence IOM/2022/RUS006 permits any subsidiary of VTB incorporated in the Isle of Man to make payments for basic needs including insurance premiums, property management services, remuneration, pensions of employees, tax, rent or mortgage. An IOM subsidiary may also make payments for, reasonable fees and service charges arising from routine holding and maintenance of frozen funds and economic resources. It also includes payments for professional fees and expenses associated with the provision of legal services.
When payments are made under the above, an IOM subsidiary of VTB must provide written notice to the Treasury that it is conducting activity permitted under this licence and must supply the Treasury with its current, valid contact details within 7 days of making the payment. Notice may be provided by email to fiu@gov.im.
This notification does not constitute verification by the Treasury that activity purported to be permitted under this licence is permitted.
An IOM Subsidiary of VTB making payments under this licence above must keep accurate, complete and readable records, on paper or electronically, of any activity purporting to have been permitted under this licence for a minimum of 6 years.
The General Licence takes effect from the date of issue and expires on 1 March 2023.
General Licence IOM/2022/RUS007 permits for anything to be done by or on behalf of, a Relevant Authority in respect of an Isle of Man subsidiary of VTB Capital for the purposes of the statutory functions of that authority as they relate to prudential supervision or protecting, maintaining or enhancing the stability of the financial system of the United Kingdom.
A Relevant Authority means the Financial Services Authority.
The General Licence takes effect from the date of issue and expires on 01 March 2023.
General
The permissions in the above General Licences do not authorise any act which the person carrying out the act knows, or has reasonable grounds for suspecting, will result in funds or economic resources being made available in breach of the Russia Regulations, save as permitted under licences granted under the Russia Regulations.
Further details of the sanctions regime related to Russia may be found on the Customs and Excise pages of the Isle of Man Government website.
