UK Fines Apple Subsidiary £390,000 for Breaching Russian Sanctions

Severity: Medium (Score: 43.0)

Sources: Theguardian, Globalinvestigationsreview, Macrumors, Appleinsider, Computing

Summary

The UK government has imposed a £390,000 fine on Apple Distribution International (ADI), an Irish subsidiary of Apple, for breaching sanctions against Russia. The penalty was issued by the Office of Financial Sanctions Implementation (OFSI) after ADI made two payments totaling £635,618.75 to Okko LLC, a Russian app developer linked to a designated entity, in mid-2022. These payments were made through a UK bank shortly after sanctions were imposed following Russia's invasion of Ukraine. OFSI stated that the payments violated prohibitions under the UK's sanctions regime, although there was no indication that Apple intended to evade these sanctions. Apple disclosed the payments voluntarily and has stated that it takes compliance seriously. The fine reflects the importance of having robust sanctions policies in place to prevent inadvertent payments to sanctioned entities. Key Points: • Apple's Irish subsidiary fined £390,000 for breaching UK sanctions on Russia. • Payments totaling £635,618.75 were made to a Russian developer linked to a sanctioned entity. • Apple voluntarily disclosed the payments and stated it is enhancing compliance protocols.

Key Entities

• Apple Distribution International (company)
• Apple Distribution Limited (company)
• JSC New Opportunities (company)
• Okko LLC (company)
• Sberbank (company)
• Ireland (country)
• Republic Of Ireland (country)
• Russia (country)
• Ukraine (country)