Restrictive measures are an essential tool for maintaining international peace and supporting democracy, the rule of law and human rights.

To preserve these values, the EU currently has over 40 sets of restrictive measures in place which are binding on Member States and on any person or entity under their jurisdictions, including banks. While the adoption of Union restrictive measures has intensified over recent decades, national systems still differ significantly in the criminalisation of their violation. Against this background, the European Commission published a proposal for a Directive on the definition of criminal offences and penalties for the violation of Union restrictive measures in December 2022 to support the efficient enforcement of the rules.

In our response to the Commission’s call for feedback on the proposal, ESBG highlighted important points focused on the roles of banks in the sanctions compliance, such as removing the penalization of serious negligent violations. Additionally, a non-punishable voluntary self-disclosure for employees should be introduced to sufficiently protect them when a mistake happens. This shall prevent the criminalisation of human errors in sanction checks. Furthermore, we stressed that criminal liability requires a precise conceptual delineation of rights and obligation of the involved parties, and provided more remarks on the particular provisions.

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