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European leaders have approved new restrictive measures against five persons and three entities under the EU’s Global Human Rights Sanctions Regime.
Payments firms will need to ensure that their compliance programmes take into account the latest developments and be sure to avoid any dealings with the sanctioned individuals and entities.
The sanctions were announced by the European Council, which is composed of EU leaders in the 27 member states.
It said the listed individuals and entities “are responsible for serious and systematic human rights abuses against Palestinians in the West Bank”, a territory belonging to Palestine that settlers have controversially developed land on over the years.
With these new additions, the EU’s Global Human Rights Sanctions Regime now encompasses 113 individuals and 31 entities worldwide.
The EU established the Global Human Rights Sanctions Regime on December 7, 2020 to address severe human rights violations, including genocide, crimes against humanity, torture and other significant abuses.
Those listed face an asset freeze, a prohibition on the provision of funds or economic resources, and a travel ban within the EU.
The relevant legal acts formalising these sanctions have been published in the Official Journal of the EU.
Who has been sanctioned?
The listings include Israeli settler Moshe Sharvit and his "Moshe’s Farm" in the Jordan Valley, which was also sanctioned by US authorities in March this year.
Zvi Bar Yosef, another settler, and his unauthorised outpost, "Zvi’s Farm", have also been targeted, as has Tzav 9, a militant group founded in January 2024.
Baruch Marzel, who has openly called for an ethnic cleansing of the Palestinians; Ben-Zion “Bentzi” Gopstein, founder and leader of the extremist organisation Lehava; and Isaschar Manne, founder of the unauthorised Manne Farm outpost in the South Hebron Hills, were also sanctioned.
How do sanctions affect firms?
Unrest and conflict have become increasingly big geopolitical problems in recent years, prompting regulators internationally, including in the UK, EU and US, to impose sanctions on key players.
Payments and e-money firms must implement rigorous compliance programmes to avoid transactions with sanctioned entities or individuals.
This involves continuous screening against updated sanctions lists, enhanced know your customer (KYC) procedures and regular risk assessments.
In 2022, one compliance source told Vixio that the outbreak of the Ukraine/Russia conflict had meant they and their team “had to quickly adapt and change for sanctions that were coming up. We had to ensure that we were on top of those, and constantly checked the sanctions list.”
Dealing with compliance requirements like this introduces operational challenges, such as significant investments in technology and training, potential transaction delays, and for firms operating internationally, complexities in cross-border transactions that can make up a lot of their business.
Non-compliance can result in severe consequences, including substantial fines, legal action and reputational damage, as have affected Microsoft and Wise in recent times, meaning that firms are forced to adhere as closely as they can to the restrictions in place in the markets where they operate.
