Question to the Department for Business and Trade:

To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, if she will bring forward legislation to make it a criminal offence for people under sanctions to set up UK companies.

The Economic Crime and Corporate Transparency Bill, which is currently in Committee stage in the House of Lords, will create a completely new type of sanctions measure in the Sanctions and Anti-Money Laundering Act 2018 called ‘director disqualification sanctions’. It will be an offence for a designated person subject to this new measure to form a UK company, or to act as a director or otherwise be involved in the company’s promotion or management.

It will be for the Foreign Secretary to decide when and how to deploy the measure, alongside the full suite of other sanctions measures.