The UK Office of Trade Sanctions Implementation (OTSI) was established in October 2024 to strengthen the UK’s ability to implement and enforce trade sanctions effectively. As part of the UK’s broader sanctions and trade enforcement framework, OTSI plays a pivotal role by supporting industries in understanding their obligations, and addressing non-compliance. OTSI’s distinct mandate has raised questions within the industry about its specific role and focus areas, making it a key player in the evolving sanctions landscape.
This conversation with OTSI’s Deputy Director, Anna Deibel-Jung, provides a comprehensive overview of OTSI’s mission and operations, tackling common misconceptions and clarifying its priorities for 2025.
Key topics include:- Understanding OTSI’s mandate and responsibilities
- OTSI’s outreach and engagement efforts
- OTSI’s critical role in enforcement
- Licensing and reporting obligations
- Adapting to future changes in the sanctions landscape
Speakers:
Anna Deibel-Jung, Deputy Director, OTSI
Anna is responsible for leading the Office of Trade Sanctions Implementation (OTSI) in the Department for Business and Trade (DBT). Anna is a highly experienced senior civil servant. Prior to moving to the Department for Business and Trade to take up her current role, Anna spent most of her career at HM Treasury in wide-ranging leadership, policy and delivery roles, including leading the economic response to the Covid pandemic, on savings and pensions, consumer policy and financial services regulation.
Freya Page, Director, Global Outreach, Kharon
Freya is a sanctions specialist working with public and private sectors across the globe to ensure proper compliance, enforcement, implementation and understanding of sanctions. Starting in the illicit finance field with HM Treasury in 2015 she went on to be a founding member of the Office of Financial Sanctions Implementation (OFSI). Freya has undertaken roles across policy, compliance, enforcement, and outreach.
As Director of Global Outreach at Kharon, Freya now works as a thought leader across a number of geographic and thematic sanctions regimes, speaking regularly to international governments, industry, and non-profits to promote the understanding and use of compliance risk solutions. Freya regularly appears on conference panels, authors and collaborates on white papers and articles as well as contributing to roundtable discussions and co-chairs a number of working groups, including working closely with trade bodies such as UK Finance.