OFSI issues legal-services general licence for designated-person payments
→UK legal firms need INT/2026/9512597 terms before taking designated-person payments
Change
OFSI issued Legal Services General Licence INT/2026/9512597, allowing UK legal firms and UK counsel to receive covered payments from designated persons without a specific licence where the licence terms are met.
Why it matters
The licence keeps a pre-authorised payment route open for legal services provided to designated persons under covered UK autonomous sanctions regimes. Law firms and counsel must check the licence period, fee and expense caps, DP Group treatment, payment-route conditions and covered sanctions regimes before relying on it. Activity outside the licence terms still requires a specific OFSI licence or remains prohibited.
Implications
- → UK legal firms advising designated persons must check General Licence INT/2026/9512597 before receiving payment — reliance is valid only where the matter, payer, regime, fee cap and payment route fit the licence terms.
- → UK counsel and law-firm finance teams must apply the refreshed fees and expenses caps for the 29 April 2026 to 28 October 2026 period — payment processing outside the caps may require a specific OFSI licence.
- → Sanctions compliance teams at law firms must update client/payment workflows for the new DP Group definition — owned or controlled entities within a DP Group may affect who can pay legal fees under the licence.
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Source
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