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HM Treasury's Office of Financial Sanctions Implementation, or OFSI, will soon have more freedom to penalize companies and individuals for violating U.K. banking and commercial restrictions under legislation adopted in March, officials said Wednesday. The Economic Crime (Transparency and Enforcement) Act, which lawmakers approved as part of a broader campaign to crack down on illicit wealth and enforce an unprecedented financial embargo against Russia in response to the country's invasion of Ukraine, will empower OFSI to issue civil monetary penalties on a "strict liability" basis. Under the new standard, OFSI will no longer have to prove that a financial institution,...