Question to the HM Treasury:

To ask Her Majesty's Government whether any (1) capital,(2) interest, or (3) dividend revenues arising from frozen Libyan assets held in the UK have been distributed since the invocation of United Nations Security Council Resolution 1970 in 2011.

Each year OFSI carries out an annual review of frozen assets held by UK institutions. £11.53 billion of Libyan frozen funds were reported to be held by UK businesses in OFSI’s 2020-21 Annual Review. This includes interest and other earnings accrued to frozen assets.

As set out in UN Security Council Resolution 2009 (2011), a key aim of the Libya financial sanctions regime is “to ensure that assets frozen pursuant to resolutions 1970 (2011) and 1973 (2011) shall as soon as possible be made available to and for the benefit of the people of Libya”.

Until that time, HM Treasury may only license the release of frozen funds according to the derogations set out in the Libya sanctions regime regulations. The Annual Review includes information about licences granted by OFSI under financial sanctions regimes.

Under the terms of the Libya financial sanctions regime, frozen assets continue to belong to the sanctioned entity or individual. However, the use of any frozen assets, or profits arising from those assets, is tightly constrained by the Libya financial sanctions regime.