News Release
Financial Sanctions: Zimbabwe

17 June 2005

With the publication of Commission Regulation (EC) No 898/2005 in the Official Journal of the European Union, (O.J. L153, p.9) on 16 June 2005, the Commission of the European Communities has amended the list of those subject to the financial sanctions applicable to various individual members of the Government of Zimbabwe and various persons associated with them. The list of targeted persons set out in the Annex to Commission Regulation (EC) No 898/2005 amends and replaces the list of targeted persons in Annex III to Council Regulation (EC) No 314/2004.

The Bank of England, on behalf of Her Majesty’s Treasury, therefore announces that with effect from 16 June 2005 all funds or economic resources belonging to the persons listed in Annex III to Council Regulation (EC) No 314/2004, as amended and replaced by the Annex to Commission Regulation (EC) No 898/2005, must be frozen. No funds or economic resources are to be made available, directly or indirectly, to or for the benefit of the listed persons. Financial institutions and other bodies and persons in the UK must check whether they maintain any accounts or otherwise hold any funds for the individuals named and, if so, they should freeze the accounts or other funds and report the accounts or other funds and amounts frozen to the Bank of England.

Copies of this Commission Regulation and previous Regulations, and the related Bank Notices, regarding the financial sanctions regime against Zimbabwe are available from the Financial Sanctions pages of the Bank of England website.

The amendments made by the Commission of the European Communities, which take the form of additional names, deletions and amendments to information in relation to a number of individuals who were already subject to the Zimbabwe financial sanctions regime are set out in the Annex to the Bank of England Notice on Zimbabwe dated 17 June 2005.

Notes to Editors

On 18 February 2002, the Council of the European Union adopted Council Regulation (EC) No 310/2002, which, inter alia, had the effect of freezing the funds and economic resources of various individual members of the Governments of Zimbabwe and various persons associated with them. All such targeted persons were listed in Annex I of that Regulation. Regulation 310/2002 was published in the Official Journal of the European Communities and entered into force on 21 February 2002 (O.J. L50, p.4).

The list of targeted persons in Annex 1 to Regulation (EC) No 310/2002 was subsequently amended by Commission Regulation (EC) No 1345/2002 of 24 July 2002 and Commission Regulation (EC) No 1643/2002 of 13 September 2002.

Council Regulation (EC) No 314/2004 of 19 February 2004, amended and extended the financial sanctions imposed by Regulation (EC) No 310/2002 and replaced that Regulation upon its expiry.