Statute Details
- Title: Financial Services and Markets (Sanctions and Freezing of Assets of Persons — Libya) Regulations 2023
- Act Code: FSMA2022-S237-2023
- Legislation Type: Subsidiary legislation (SL)
- Enacting Act / Authorising Act: Financial Services and Markets Act 2022 (powers under section 192, read with sections 15(1)(b) and 219(d))
- Citation and commencement: Commenced on 28 April 2023 (SL 237/2023)
- Status: Current version as at 27 March 2026
- Object: To assist in giving effect to specific UN Security Council Resolutions relating to Libya sanctions
- Key provisions (as reflected in the extract):
- Section 4: Definitions (including “Committee”, “designated person”, “funds”, “UN List”, and conditions for being treated as a “designated person”)
- Section 5: Mandatory freezing of assets of designated persons; scope, treatment of assets held on behalf of designated persons, and exemptions/authority determinations
- Section 6: Prohibition on supplying financial or other assistance related to military activities and arms/materiel to Libya; limited exceptions with Committee pre-approval
- Section 7: Prohibition on provision of financial services (including via intermediaries) to support prohibited activities (text truncated in the extract)
- Section 8: Duty to provide information
- Section 9: Duty to exercise vigilance
- Section 10: Revocation
- Section 11: Saving and transitional provisions
- Schedule: Designated persons (individuals/entities on the UN List subject to conditions)
What Is This Legislation About?
The Financial Services and Markets (Sanctions and Freezing of Assets of Persons — Libya) Regulations 2023 (“Libya Sanctions Regulations”) are Singapore’s legal mechanism for implementing United Nations Security Council sanctions relating to Libya. In plain terms, the Regulations require financial institutions in Singapore to identify “designated persons” listed by the UN, freeze their assets, and prevent those assets from being made available to them.
The Regulations also impose restrictions beyond asset freezing. They prohibit certain kinds of financial assistance and financial services that could facilitate prohibited military-related activities or the supply, provision, or use of arms and related materiel in relation to Libya. These restrictions are designed to ensure that Singapore’s financial sector does not inadvertently support sanctioned conduct.
Although the Regulations are Singapore law, their content is closely tied to UN Security Council Resolutions and the UN sanctions “listing” process. This means the compliance obligations can change as the UN updates the list of designated persons and as UN resolutions are interpreted or operationalised through the relevant UN committee.
What Are the Key Provisions?
1) Definitions and the “designated person” concept (Section 4)
The Regulations define key terms that drive compliance. The most important is “designated person”, which refers to individuals or entities set out in the UN List subject to specified conditions. The UN List is updated from time to time by the UN Security Council or the relevant committee and is made available on the UN website.
Section 4(2) is particularly practical for compliance teams because it sets out when a person becomes (or ceases to be) a “designated person” for Singapore purposes. For example, if a person is added to the UN List on or after 28 April 2023, they are treated as designated with effect from the date immediately following the date of addition. If removed, they cease to be designated with effect from the date of removal. If particulars are modified, the modification is treated as effective from the date immediately following the date of modification. This “immediate following date” rule is crucial for operational cut-off times in screening and freezing workflows.
2) Mandatory freezing of assets (Section 5)
Section 5 is the core obligation. Subject to certain paragraphs (notably exemptions and transitional/saving concepts), any financial institution that has in its possession, custody or control in Singapore any funds, other financial assets, or economic resources owned or controlled—directly or indirectly—by a designated person must do two things:
- Freeze immediately all such funds/assets/resources; and
- Ensure they are not made available directly or indirectly to or for the benefit of the designated person.
Section 5(2) expands the reach of freezing. Funds/assets/economic resources held by a person who acts on behalf of or under the direction of a designated person, or held by an entity owned or controlled (directly or indirectly) by a designated person, are treated as owned or controlled by the designated person. This targets common circumvention structures such as nominees, agents, and controlled entities.
Exemptions and authority determinations (Section 5(3)–(6))
The Regulations include important carve-outs. Section 5(3) states that the freezing requirement does not apply to certain funds/assets/resources owned or controlled by a designated person specified in the Schedule, and which came into or under the possession/custody/control of a financial institution after 16 September 2011. Section 5(4) clarifies that the freezing requirement continues to apply to funds/assets/resources owned or controlled by designated persons specified in the Schedule that came into the institution’s possession on or before 16 September 2011, subject to any exemption granted under the Act (the extract references section 189 of the Financial Services and Markets Act 2022).
Section 5(5) provides a further set of exemptions where the Authority determines funds are necessary for specific purposes. These include basic expenses (such as foodstuff, rent, mortgage discharge, medicine, medical treatment, taxes, insurance premiums, and public utility charges), payment of reasonable professional fees and reimbursement of expenses for legal services, routine holding/maintenance fees for frozen assets, extraordinary expenses, and satisfaction of certain judicial/administrative/arbitral liens or judgments. Notably, for lien/judgment use, the lien/judgment must have arisen or been entered into before 26 February 2011, and it must not be for the benefit of a designated person.
Section 5(6) allows a financial institution to credit to a frozen account interest/earnings due, or payments due under contracts/agreements/obligations that arose before 8 July 2011, but such amounts remain subject to the freezing requirement. Practically, this means institutions can administer accounts without breaching the freeze, but cannot release value to the designated person.
3) Prohibition on supplying financial or other assistance related to military activities (Section 6)
Section 6 prohibits a financial institution in Singapore from directly or indirectly supplying financial or other assistance related to:
- Military activities; or
- The provision, maintenance or use of arms and related materiel
to the Libyan Arab Jamahiriya (the historical name used in the UN framework). This is a “purpose-and-connection” prohibition: it is not limited to direct arms transactions; it covers assistance related to military activities and arms-related materiel.
Section 6(2) provides limited exceptions where assistance is related to non-lethal military equipment intended solely for humanitarian/protective use, protective clothing temporarily exported by UN personnel/media/humanitarian and development works for personal use, and other arms-related sales/supply or assistance/personnel approved in advance by the Committee. The key compliance point is that these exceptions require advance Committee approval, meaning institutions must verify whether the relevant UN committee has authorised the specific assistance.
4) Prohibition on provision of financial services (Section 7) and intermediary risk
Section 7 (as far as visible in the extract) imposes a prohibition on a financial institution providing financial services, explicitly including through providers of brokering or other intermediary services. This is designed to prevent circumvention through third-party channels. Even if the institution does not directly provide the service, it may still be caught if it provides financial services “indirectly” or through intermediaries.
Because the extract truncates the remainder of Section 7, practitioners should treat the prohibition as potentially broad and fact-specific, and should consult the full text when advising on particular products (for example, export credits, guarantees, insurance, or other financial products that could be linked to prohibited activities). The compliance takeaway is that institutions must map not only direct transactions but also the role they play in intermediation and the downstream use of financial services.
5) Information and vigilance duties (Sections 8 and 9)
While the extract does not reproduce the text of Sections 8 and 9, their titles indicate two further compliance pillars:
- Duty to provide information (Section 8): institutions must provide specified information to the Authority (typically in response to requests or as required by the Regulations).
- Duty to exercise vigilance (Section 9): institutions must implement due diligence and screening measures to detect and prevent dealings with designated persons or prohibited activities.
In practice, these duties usually require robust sanctions screening, escalation procedures, record-keeping, staff training, and documented decision-making—especially when dealing with complex ownership/control structures or when relying on exemptions.
6) Revocation and transitional provisions (Sections 10–11)
Section 10 provides for revocation, and Section 11 contains saving and transitional provisions. These sections matter when a new sanctions regulation replaces an earlier instrument or when obligations need to be clarified for transactions or holdings that existed before the commencement date or before amendments.
How Is This Legislation Structured?
The Regulations follow a standard sanctions-instrument structure:
- Part/Sections 1–4: citation/commencement, object, application, and definitions (including the UN List and designated person conditions).
- Sections 5–7: substantive sanctions obligations—freezing of assets (Section 5), prohibitions on supplying financial/other assistance related to military activities (Section 6), and prohibitions on provision of financial services (Section 7).
- Sections 8–9: compliance governance—information provision and vigilance/due diligence.
- Sections 10–11: revocation and saving/transitional rules.
- Schedule: the designated persons list (supporting the UN listing framework).
Who Does This Legislation Apply To?
Section 3 provides that the Regulations apply to all financial institutions in Singapore. This typically includes banks, insurers, and other regulated financial intermediaries that hold or manage funds, financial assets, or economic resources.
In addition, the obligations are triggered by the institution’s possession, custody or control in Singapore over relevant assets. Therefore, the practical scope is not only about whether an institution is regulated, but also about whether it has operational control over assets that are owned or controlled by designated persons.
Why Is This Legislation Important?
For practitioners, the Libya Sanctions Regulations are important because they translate UN sanctions into enforceable Singapore obligations with immediate operational consequences. The freezing requirement is “immediate” and applies to assets in the institution’s possession/custody/control. This creates a high compliance urgency: once a person is added to the UN List (and subject to the “immediately following date” rule), institutions must ensure their screening and freezing mechanisms can respond without undue delay.
The Regulations also reflect a modern sanctions compliance approach by addressing indirect holdings and circumvention. The treatment of assets held by persons acting on behalf of designated persons, and by entities owned or controlled by designated persons, means that institutions must understand ownership and control structures—not merely the named account holder.
Finally, the prohibitions on supplying financial/other assistance and on provision of financial services (including through intermediaries) highlight that sanctions risk is not limited to account freezing. Product design, underwriting, guarantees, export-related finance, and intermediary arrangements may all require careful legal review and documented compliance controls.
Related Legislation
- Financial Services and Markets Act 2022 (authorising Act; referenced for exemptions and saving/transitional concepts, including section 189 in the extract)
- Markets Act 2022
- Singapore Act 1970 (listed in the provided metadata)
Source Documents
This article provides an overview of the Financial Services and Markets (Sanctions and Freezing of Assets of Persons — Libya) Regulations 2023 for legal research and educational purposes. It does not constitute legal advice. Readers should consult the official text for authoritative provisions.