Sanctions

Financial sanctions are an important part of international and European sanctions and affect a large number of stakeholders.

Application of international and European financial sanctions

The area of international and European financial sanctions is a cross-cutting issue and is therefore the responsibility of various authorities. Financial sanctions include, for example, the freezing of assets of individuals (so-called listings), restrictions on payment transaction systems or the reporting of assets of certain groups of persons by credit, financial and payment institutions. At European level, sanctions are referred to as restrictive measures. International sanctions are decided by the United Nations Security Council, which are implemented at European level in directly applicable EU regulations. European sanctions are decided by the European Union. Austria is represented by the BMEIA. The implementation of sanctions measures in Austria is monitored on the basis of the Sanctions Act and the Foreign Exchange Act. The implementation of financial sanctions affecting credit, financial and payment institutions is monitored by the OeNB. Further information can be found here. 

The Export Control Department of the BMAW is responsible for goods-related sanctions (more information can be found here) and Customs is responsible for enforcement (more information can be found here). The monitoring of other sanction measures is carried out by the Federal Ministry of the Interior, in this case the DSN (more information can be found here).

Terrorist financing and proliferation financing of weapons of mass destruction are part of the FATF's mandate and are also enforced with the help of listings of sanctioned persons and institutions. These are also adopted by the United Nations Security Council and promptly transposed into law at European level. Most other sanctions regimes are negotiated and adopted at European level. The website sanctionsmap.eu and the dedicated website of the European Commission provide an overview. All relevant information on the individual sanctioned natural and legal persons in the EU can be found there, depending on the jurisdiction and including the associated legal bases.