The UK Government has confirmed that from 09:00 on 28 January 2026, the UK Sanctions List (UKSL) will become the single authoritative source for all UK sanctions designations.

From that point, the OFSI Consolidated List will be retired and will no longer be updated.

What is this?

The UKSL is the statutory list underpinning the UK’s autonomous sanctions regime. It will now act as the sole reference point for sanctions screening across financial, trade, transport and immigration measures.

What has changed?

• The dual-list approach is being removed.
• All UK sanctions designations will sit in one official dataset.
• OFSI Group IDs will no longer be created for new designations.
• UKSL Unique IDs will become the standard identifier.
• Legacy OFSI identifiers will remain in the data for historical reference only.

What firms should be doing now

Ahead of January 2026, firms should:

• Ensure sanctions screening relies on the UK Sanctions List (UKSL).
• Update identifiers, matching logic and escalation workflows where required.
• Confirm that third-party screening and data providers are UKSL-aligned.
• Refresh policies, procedures and governance references to reflect the change.
• Retain clear evidence of transition for audit and supervisory purposes.

Why this matters

After January, sanctions compliance will be assessed by reference to the UKSL alone. Continued reliance on legacy lists risks inconsistency in screening outcomes and unnecessary supervisory challenge.

This is a straightforward change, but one that touches core controls across onboarding, payments, counterparty risk and ongoing monitoring.

Hagan Smith view

This is a sensible simplification of the UK sanctions framework. Firms that address it early will reduce operational friction, avoid last-minute remediation and demonstrate strong control ownership.