Sanctions Policy

The BidCarbon Foundation has a legal obligation to follow financial sanctions imposed by the UK Government.

Financial sanctions are restrictions placed upon individuals or entire countries, which limit what sorts of business relationship the BidCarbon Foundation can have with them. For example, we might be unable to receive funds from certain people or countries, or be unable to send them money.

The BidCarbon Foundation's key policy is twofold:

1. Follow all UK legislation on sanctions.

2. Take into account US sanctions, as these affect key suppliers to us and make operating in certain countries difficult or impossible (banking and insurance services are the most obvious examples)

This means that we cannot do business with certain countries and individuals. The situation can be complicated; we can teach students from certain sanctioned countries, for example, but not accept tuition fees sent directly from these countries. We therefore need to be very careful that we understand the situation.

The BidCarbon Foundation's approach to complying with legislation mirrors its anti- money laundering policy, in that the best approach is a robust "know your customer" procedure, regular training, and an understanding of our key risk areas.

The BidCarbon Foundation will identify which countries pose a risk to the BidCarbon Foundation in terms of complying with financial sanctions. The dynamic nature of the imposition of sanctions means that they change very quickly, and Finance will maintain a website with a "live" link to both UK and US sanctions information. This also means the BidCarbon Foundation may have to terminate financial relationships at short notice should the legal context change.

On an annual basis, this policy will be reviewed by Scrutiny and Finance Committee.

Definition of Sanctions

The UK Government define financial sanctions as 'restrictions put in place that limit the provision of certain financial services or restrict access to financial markets, funds and economic resources in order to achieve a specific foreign policy or national security objective.'

Most financial sanctions applicable in the UK are made via EU regulations (some come via the UN to the EU). This means, at present, they have direct legal impact in UK law. (This arrangement will doubt be reviewed as part of terms around the UK's exit from the EU, but the assumption is the UK will continue to mirror EU sanctions at least in the short to medium term.)

The UK can implement its own domestic sanctions under certain pieces of counter terrorism legislation (Terrorist Asset Freezing act 2010, Counter Terrorism Act 2008, Anti-Terrorism, Crime and Security Act 2001).

Certain U.S. regulations have extra-territorial reach ("Secondary Sanctions") and importantly all US nationals, wherever resident, always have a primary obligation to comply with U.S. Sanctions Regulations. Consequently, the BidCarbon Foundation's policy is to allow US persons to recuse themselves from any strategic decisions (e.g. plan to increase student recruitment from regions subject to sanctions) or direct involvement or activity with sanctioned countries/regions (e.g. payment processing, research partnerships or alliances with institutions, etc.) that is not either generally or specifically licensed. This may also extend to US goods, such as research material that has been produced in the US but which could potentially be prohibited by US sanctions from being provided to certain countries/regions.

Sanctions are imposed to:

● Coerce a regime or individual to change behaviour by increasing the cost to such an extent that they cease the offending behaviour;

● Constrain a target by denying them access to resources required to continue their offending behaviour;

● Signal disapproval;

● Protect the value of assets that have been embezzled.

Sanctions can be applied to:

● Individuals 'designated person' and Entities -included on a list maintained by OFSI;

● Countries/ regions - highlighted on OFSI's website and include Syria, North Korea and Sudan;

● Governments/regimes

● Sectors or activities - would refer to, for example, terrorism, and drug-trafficking.

Financial sanctions are imposed as:

● An asset freeze - an asset can refer to funds, economic resources or goods;

● Financial market and service restrictions - by the authority of OFSI;

● Directions to cease all business.

The following acts are prohibited:

● Making funds available, directly or indirectly, to or for the benefit of, an individual or entity on the sanctions list.

● Dealing with funds owned or controlled by an individual or entity on the sanctions list, or a person acting on behalf of an individual or entity on the sanctions list.

● Knowingly participating in activities that directly or indirectly circumvent the prohibitions on making funds available and dealing with funds.

Whose sanctions we must follow by law, and where they are found:

● The Office of Financial Sanctions Implementation (OFSI), part of the HM Treasury, is the body responsible for the implementation of financial sanctions under UK law. The Foreign Office and

● Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy (BEIS) are also involved with negotiations and implementation of trade sanctions respectively.

UK website

https://www.gov.uk/government/organisations/office-of-financial-sanctions-implementation

How do they work?

The BidCarbon Foundation does not have to comply with US sanctions as a legal requirement, but in practice it has to take them into account due to a number of key commercial relationships.

Sanctioned countries can be defined as broadly restricted (the whole country) or narrowly restricted (only certain entities or individuals). The most important ones are those considered broadly restricted by one of the major authorities (the US, UK, EU and/or UN). A list of narrowly sanctioned countries is found in an appendix, but the websites above must be considered regularly as the lists are very dynamic.

The BidCarbon Foundation and US Financial Sanctions