Global sanctions inflation may be easing, but compliance teams should brace for ongoing challenges in 2025. LSEG’s latest Global Sanctions Index (GSI), based on data to March 2025, reveals that while the growth in the number of sanctioned individuals is slowing, broader risk trends—like regulatory divergence and complexity—are likely to persist or intensify.
The report, which draws on extensive sanctions data, finds that uncertainty is now the defining feature of the global sanctions environment. While the pace of sanctions inflation appears to be slowing, other macro-trends are likely to persist—and in some cases intensify.
The GSI has reached 446, marking a 446% increase since its base in January 2017. Nearly 80,000 individuals are now sanctioned globally, although the annual inflation rate has dipped to 17.1%, down from 18.9% the previous year. Despite this, LSEG warns that multiple global mega-trends remain entrenched.
However, the report emphasises that several global mega-trends remain deeply embedded. These include hyperinflation in the number of sanctions targets, increasing regulatory divergence, greater complexity in enforcement, the rise of extra-territorial measures, and the privatisation of enforcement responsibility. Uncertainty, a newly identified trend in 2025, now frames much of the compliance conversation.
LSEG’s report offers vital insight for financial institutions, compliance officers, and risk professionals navigating the future of global sanctions.
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