CL-2022-000456 - [2025] EWHC 1938 (Comm)

Fecha: 31-Jul-2025

PART E: REGULATION 269 [212]-[305]

PART E: REGULATION 269 [212]-[305]

XXVI: The provisions of Regulation 269 [212]-[219]

212.

The provisions of Regulation 269 that are relevant to this judgment are set out in full in Appendix 2. As already noted, the key provision in Regulation 269 is Article 2, which provides as follows:

“Article 2
1.
All funds and economic resources belonging to, owned, held or controlled by any natural or legal persons, entities or bodies, or natural or legal persons, entities or bodies associated with them, as listed in Annex I, shall be frozen.
2.
No funds or economic resources shall be made available, directly or indirectly, to or for the benefit of natural or legal persons, entities or bodies, or natural or legal persons, entities or bodies associated with them, as listed in Annex I.”

213.

A number of important definitions are provided in Article 1. In particular:

(1)

“Funds” is defined as:

“(g)
… financial assets and benefits of every kind, including, but not limited to… (v)… performance bonds”

(2)

“Economic resources” is defined as:

“(d)
… assets of every kind, whether tangible or intangible, movable or immovable, which are not funds but may be used to obtain funds, goods or services”

(3)

“Freezing of funds” is defined as:

“(f)
… preventing any move, transfer, alteration, use of, access to, or dealing with funds in any way that would result in any change in their volume, amount, location, ownership, possession, character, destination or any other change that would enable the funds to be used, including portfolio management”

(4)

“Freezing of economic resources” is defined as:

“(e)
… preventing the use of economic resources to obtain funds, goods or services in any way, including, but not limited to, by selling, hiring or mortgaging them”.

214.

There is no definition of “belonging to, owned, held or controlled”, as used in Article 2(1).

215.

Many of the individual Articles that follow specify circumstances in which the NCAs of member states may authorise the release of frozen funds or economic resources, by way of derogation from Article 2. These include Article 6e, which permits NCAs to make funds or economic resources available, under such conditions as they consider appropriate, in the following circumstances:

“… after having determined that such funds or economic resources are necessary for the purchase, import or transport of agricultural and food products, including wheat and fertilisers.”

216.

Article 7(2) permits payments to be credited or added to frozen accounts in certain circumstances, by providing that Article 2(2) does not apply.

217.

Article 9 prohibits knowingly and intentionally seeking to circumvent Regulation 269.

218.

Article 10 provides that freezing of funds and economic resources (etc.) shall not give rise to liability if carried out in good faith, unless it resulted from negligence.

219.

Article 11 provides that no claims in connection with a contract or transaction affected by the Regulation shall be satisfied if made by a designated person or a person or entity acting through or on behalf of a designated person.