Truphone

(asked on 14th June 2022) - View Source

Question to the HM Treasury:

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what steps he is taking to ensure that the sale of Truephone does not permit sanctioned individuals and their business partners to recoup a substantial part of their investment.


Answered by
John Glen Portrait
John Glen
Paymaster General and Minister for the Cabinet Office
This question was answered on 22nd June 2022

We understand that this question relates to the entity Truphone Limited.

Financial sanctions restrictions apply to any entity that is owned or controlled directly or indirectly by a designated person. This includes where that person holds (directly or indirectly) more than 50% of the shares or voting rights in an entity, has the right (directly or indirectly) to appoint or remove a majority of the board of directors of the entity, or it is reasonable to expect that the person would be able to ensure the affairs of the entity are conducted in accordance with the person’s wishes.

The Office of Financial Sanctions Implementation (OFSI), in the Treasury, does not aggregate different designated persons’ holdings in a company unless (for example) the shares or rights are subject to a joint arrangement between the designated parties or one party controls the rights of another.

Therefore, OFSI does not consider that Truphone is subject to an asset freeze.

If any sanctioned individuals are due to receive funds as a result of the sale of a company which is not subject to financial sanctions restrictions, any funds they receive from a UK company or into a UK bank account will need to be frozen. An OFSI licence would then be needed for any onward movement of such funds, otherwise breaches of financial sanctions restrictions may occur. Any suspected breach of financial sanctions should be reported to OFSI.

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