Alicia Kearns MP, chair of the Foreign Affairs Committee, published a statement in February questioning why there had been such little action taken: “Since Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, the number of asset freezes under U.K. sanctions has grown significantly. If this is not soon reflected in the number of enforcement actions, we will have to ask difficult questions about the efficacy of OFSI’s enforcement capacity.”
In its submission to the Treasury Committee, the Treasury stated it had increased OFSI’s resources from 40 to 135 employees across its enforcement, intelligence, licensing and engagement functions. Little information is available on its budget: former City minister John Glen said this is to avoid prejudicing its operational effectiveness.
By comparison, the NCA employs more than 5,000 officers and had a budget of £860 million between 2022 and 2023.
Ben Cowdock, Transparency International’s U.K. investigations lead, told POLITICO that although OFSI’s headcount has tripled since the war started, “in terms of who they’ve been hiring, from my understanding, they’ve just been sort of moving people around the civil service.”
Kearns’ committee in 2019 described the U.K.’s sanctions regime as “fragmented and incoherent,” noting the multiple different government agencies and departments that play a role in the system. MPs also used that report to urge the government to improve OFSI’s, capabilities, describing reviews of its performance to date as “mixed at best.”
Sanctions Minister Anne-Marie Trevelyan described the investment in building up OFSI’s team as “hugely welcome” in an interview with POLITICO.
