Sanctions and Anti-Money Laundering Act 2018

Key Points

• - Establishes a unified, post-Brexit UK framework for sanctions and anti-money laundering (AML) controls.
• - Strengthens safeguards around sanctions designations: ministers must provide reasons, and designations must align with stated purposes and likely effects; introduces conditions for using those powers.
• - Expands scope with new definitions (e.g., “overseas company”, “relevant persons”) and assigns clear roles to regulators (FCA, HMRC) for AML/sanctions oversight.
• - Integrates humanitarian and human-rights considerations into the sanctions framework, and requires alignment with UN obligations; amendments also address how EU obligations might be treated.
• - Introduces ongoing oversight and review: regulations can be reviewed periodically, and there are requirements around timely processing of certain requests and reporting when regulations are amended.

Progress

The bill progressed through all parliamentary stages, with Lords amendments shaping safeguards and scope, and it received Royal Assent on 23 May 2018, becoming law.

Voting

In the Commons, four report-stage amendments were rejected by the government (opposition parties largely supported them). In the Lords, Conservative and crossbench peers agreed many amendments that strengthened safeguards (e.g., reasons for designations, humanitarian considerations, and updated definitions), before final passage.