Episode 224

13th February – 15th February 2026

Sanctions

US sanctions network converting Hizballah’s gold and global shipments into revenue

The US Treasury has sanctioned a set of companies and individuals accused of generating revenue for Hizballah by converting the group’s gold reserves into cash and running an international procurement and commodities‑shipping scheme. The action targets Lebanese gold‑trading firm Jood SARL, which is allegedly overseen by Al‑Qard Al‑Hassan, Hizballah’s shadow financial arm, as well as a network of associates operating across Iran, Russia, Türkiye, and Syria who facilitated weapons procurement and multimillion‑dollar fertilizer shipments disguised to evade sanctions. All designated entities now face asset freezes and broad prohibitions on dealings with US persons, with Treasury warning that foreign financial institutions involved with them risk secondary sanctions.

OFAC Fines IMG Academy $1.72 Million for Violations of US Counternarcotics Sanctions

The US Department of the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (‘OFAC’) announced a $1,720,000 settlement with IMG Academy, LLC for 89 apparent violations of counternarcotics sanctions between 2019 and 2025. The school allegedly dealt with property or interests in property belonging to two Specially Designated Nationals linked to a Mexico‑based drug cartel by entering annual tuition agreements and processing related payments. OFAC classified the violations as non‑egregious and noted that they were not voluntarily disclosed. Further details are available in OFAC’s enforcement release.

OFSI extends licence

The Office of Financial Sanctions Implementation (‘OFSI’) has extended General Licence INT/2025/7895596, allowing business operations with Lukoil Bulgaria entities until 13th August 2026. Originally issued on 14th November 2025 under regulation 64 of the Russia (Sanctions) (EU Exit) Regulations 2019 and amended on 20th November 2025 to include aviation and bunker subsidiaries, the updated extension is now reflected in FAQ 173 of the UK Financial Sanctions FAQs.

User Guidance published

The UK government has published User Guidance for the UK Sanctions List search tool, outlining its key functions and features to assist users in determining whether a person, entity, or ship appears on the UK Sanctions List. The guide explains how to utilise the tool’s capabilities, such as identifying exact and partial matches to search terms, employing fuzzy searching, searching for specific words or phrases, and making use of highlighted matches. Additionally, it covers the use of multi-select filters and search URLs, all designed to enhance the efficiency and accuracy of sanctions screening.

Bribery and Corruption

Transparency International Warns New Elections Bill Still Lets the Super‑Rich Buy Political Influence

In an opinion piece from Transparency International UK, the organisation welcomes the UK government’s new Representation of the People Bill for tightening rules on foreign and anonymous political donations, but argues the reforms fall far short of what is needed to protect democracy. While praising stronger “Know Your Donor” requirements and limits on shell‑company contributions, Transparency International warns that the continued absence of caps on large individual donations leaves Britain vulnerable to outsized influence from a tiny group of mega‑donors, responsible for providing two‑thirds of all private political donations in 2023. With record‑high campaign spending and public trust at historic lows, the group urges MPs to amend the bill to introduce donation caps, reduce campaign spending limits, and restore full independence to the Electoral Commission.

Market Abuse

FCA launches first enforcement action against crypto exchange for illegal UK promotions

The Financial Conduct Authority (‘FCA’) has announced that it has initiated legal proceedings against global crypto exchange HTX (formerly Huobi) for repeatedly issuing unlawful financial promotions to UK consumers despite prior warnings and extensive regulatory engagement. The regulator says HTX continued to market crypto services across its website and major social platforms without complying with the UK’s financial promotions regime, a criminal offence since October 2023. The FCA highlights HTX’s opaque ownership structure, its failure to engage with the regulator, and its continued exposure of existing UK users to illegal promotions even after restricting new registrations. To protect consumers, the FCA has asked social media companies to block HTX’s UK‑facing accounts and requested app store removals, warning that users of the unauthorised firm have no access to the Financial Ombudsman Service and are unlikely to recover funds if the business fails.

Other Financial Crime

SFO Nears Completion of Legacy E‑Discovery Case Review, Confirms No Impact on Past Convictions

The UK Serious Fraud Office (‘SFO’) has announced that its review of 66 historic conviction cases processed through its legacy Autonomy e‑discovery system is almost complete, with no evidence found to cast doubt on any past convictions. Only three cases remain under review, and all affected defendants have been contacted where possible. A newly discovered technical issue from November 2025, which relates to how certain digital container files were expanded, has prompted an additional review of around 20 cases, one of which has already been cleared. The SFO is working closely with the Attorney General’s Office and HM Crown Prosecution Service Inspectorate to ensure full compliance with disclosure obligations and emphasises that its current e‑discovery system is unaffected. Further updates will follow once the reviews conclude.

Cybercrime

UK to lead major multinational cyber‑defence exercise in Singapore

The UK will head the 2026 Defence Cyber Marvel exercise, a large‑scale multinational cyber‑defence operation hosted in Singapore and involving more than 2,500 personnel from 29 countries and 70 organisations. The week‑long event will evaluate collective responses to realistic cross‑border cyber threats, deepen cooperation with Indo‑Pacific partners, and support the UK’s Strategic Defence Review focus on warfighting readiness. With blue and red team scenarios, industry participation, and training across both traditional IT and industrial control systems, the exercise aims to strengthen international partnerships, develop cyber talent, and reinforce the UK’s broader digital security posture.

AI Weaponisation Creates a New, Unprecedented Cyber Attack Surface, Reveals Anthropic Hack

An opinion piece from the International Institute for Strategic Studies (‘IISS’) analyses how AI has already become a powerful tool for cyber‑espionage, highlighted by a major incident in which Chinese state‑sponsored hackers weaponised Anthropic’s Claude Code to autonomously conduct 80–90% of a sophisticated campaign against 30 global organisations. It argues this marks a historic shift from AI as a simple aid to hackers to AI acting as the primary operator, creating a new attack surface beyond the reach of traditional cyber‑security frameworks. The article explores the rise of criminal LLMs, upstream threats like training‑data poisoning, the limits of watermarking and provenance tools, and the strategic implications of machine‑speed autonomous attacks. Ultimately, it warns that AI weaponisation is accelerating faster than defensive innovation, demanding an entirely new paradigm for security, governance and statecraft.