Since the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001, sonctions (regulations), which require banks to freeze the assets of suspected terrorists and terrorist organisations and sometimes government officials (e.g.: Myanmar, Zimbabwe), have increased dramatically. Numerous lists of persons and organisations subject to EU financial sanctions are regularly published in the Official Journal, in addition to the lists from other sources (UN, National Governments, OFAC.), which are not published in the Official Journal.

The lack of consolidation of embargo lists at EU level created a great deal of confusion within banks. A consolidated electronic database of all persons and organisations subject to EU financial sanctions will greatly facilitate the task of banks, enabling them to fully integrate the consolidated list into their own IT systems and avoid lengthy and empirical comparisons between various sources.

Commissioner Patten answered positively in October 2003 to the long lasting efforts of the European Credit Sector Federations (FBE, ESBG, GEBC, EAPB)* to obtain that the Commission grants the European banks access to a consolidated database of persons and organisations subject to EU financial sanctions.

Click here for the Joint Paper.

Pursuant to the agreement between the four European Credit Sector Federations and the European Commission, the database will be set up at the expense of the banks provided that the Commission accepts to ensure the maintenance, i.e. the regular update under its responsibility.

Advantages of such an e-list?

• Will facilitate and accelerate significantly the processing by banks of persons and organisations under sanctions and will therefore improve the fight against terrorist financing
• Step towards a pooling and bundling of relevant information from various sources (The aim of an efficient implementation of financial sanctions will not be achieved, if there are contradicting and overlapping data from the UN, EU, national governments or OFAC .)
• Facilitate processing and verification by banks

*FBE (European Banking Federation)/ESBG (European Savings Banks Group) / GEBC (Groupement Européen des Banques Coopératives)/ EAPB (European Association of Public Banks)