General licence – IOM/2022/RUS015
The Treasury has the power to issue General Licences for financial and trade sanctions regimes under a number of Regulations.
On 1 April 2022, the Treasury issued General Licence IOM/2022/RUS015 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 General Licence IOM/2022/RUS015 should consult the copy of the Licence for full details of the permissions and usage requirements which can be found attached to this release.
General Licence IOM/2022/RUS015 which permits the receipt and onward transfer of non-rouble denominated interest/coupon or maturity/principal payments in connection with debt issued by the entities specified below before 1 March 2022. The licence will expire on 30 June 2022.
For the purposes of General Licence IOM/2022/RUS015 the entities referred to above consist of the:
- Central Bank of the Russian Federation (CBR);
- National Wealth Fund of the Russian Federation (NWF); and
- Ministry of Finance of the Russian Federation (MF).
The above includes a person owned or controlled directly or indirectly (within the meaning of regulation 7 of the Russia Regulations) or a person acting on behalf of or at the direction of the above entities.
A Person is an individual, a body of persons corporate or unincorporate, any organisation or any association or combination of persons; and a Relevant Institution is:
- a person who is licensed under the Financial Services Act 2008 (of Tynwald) to carry on a regulated activity within the meaning of section 3 of that Act;
- a person who is authorised or registered under the Insurance Act 2008 (of Tynwald) or holds a permit under that Act;
- a person who is registered under the Moneylenders Act 1991 (of Tynwald) to carry on the business of lending money;
- a person who is acting as a trustee or an administrator of a retirement benefits scheme within the meaning of the Retirement Benefits Schemes Act 2008 (of Tynwald)
Under General Licence IOM/2022/RUS015 a Person may provide financial services for the purposes of the receipt and onward transfer of non-rouble denominated interest/coupon or maturity/principal payments from the Central Bank of the Russian Federation, the National Wealth Fund of the Russian Federation, or the Ministry of Finance of the Russian Federation (or those persons set out in regulation 18A (2) (d) – (e) of the Russia Regulations) in connection with debt issued by them before 1 March 2022. A Person or Relevant Institution can carry out any activity reasonably necessary to effect this.
General
The permissions in General Licence IOM/2022/RUS015 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.
The General Licence takes effect from the date of issue and expires on 30 June 2022.
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.