Officials from the Ministry of Justice participated in the Annual Sanctions Forum for Overseas Territories and Crown Dependencies, hosted by the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO), which took place in the Cayman Islands from Tuesday 2nd March 2026 to Friday 6th March 2026. This ongoing forum provides a platform for continued engagement between the United Kingdom, Overseas Territories, and Crown Dependencies on sanctions implementation and enforcement.

Cross-government working, intelligence sharing, trade and transport sanctions, civil monetary penalties, frozen asset reporting, and proliferation finance were raised in the forum this year.

The delegation was comprised of Andrew Bonfante and Charles Avellano from the Ministry of Justice Sanctions Coordination Unit, and Stewart Brittenden from the Gibraltar Regulatory Authority. Both Charles and Stewart delivered a session alongside the Isle of Man on civil monetary penalties, including a highlight on Gibraltar’s upcoming implementation of a civil penalty regime for Sanctions. This presentation was followed by a question and answer session which attracted substantial interest from other Overseas Territories and Crown Dependencies. Edgar Lopez, Director of the Gibraltar Financial Intelligence Unit, was also invited by the FCDO to lead a session on proliferation financing, reflecting Gibraltar’s continued contribution to technical discussions across the sanctions and illicit finance agenda.

At the end of the forum, Edgar was also formally recognised by the FCDO for his excellent work and longstanding contribution to these efforts.

The delegation welcomed the opportunity to contribute to the forum and will share key points of interest arising with relevant agencies and authorities as part of ongoing sanctions coordination efforts.

Minister for Justice, Trade and Industry, Nigel Feetham MP KC said: “I welcome the Ministry of Justice taking a leading role in discussions on civil monetary penalties, including the presenting of Gibraltar’s upcoming civil penalties regime. This work reflects Gibraltar’s commitment to upholding the highest standards of sanctions compliance and enforcement and ensuring that our Sanctions framework remains robust and effective. I also wish to echo the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office’s recognition of Edgar Lopez for his excellent work and longstanding contribution to these discussions.”