The British Council supports peace and prosperity by building connections, understanding and trust between people in the UK and other countries.
The British Council is committed to complying with all relevant UK legislation and legislation in the countries where it operates. This includes sanctions, counter-terrorism and money laundering legislation. Our funds, assets and resources must not be used in any way that breaches applicable sanctions or to support criminal or terrorist activities.
We will continuously assess the risks of breaching applicable sanctions and of becoming involved with terrorism and money laundering. We will put in place proportionate measures to manage those risks, while continuing to work in difficult and challenging places.
The British Council is committed to:
- having systems, procedures and controls in place to manage the risk of breaching sanctions or becoming involved in financing or supporting terrorist activity or money laundering
- for high-risk transactions, checking that those the British Council funds or works with are not on any financial sanctions lists, lists of proscribed terrorist groups or persons, or other regulatory compliance lists, and if they are assessing the risks and taking appropriate action.
- training relevant staff so that they are fully aware of the risks related to breaching sanctions, terrorist activity and money laundering
- meeting its obligations to report to external authorities.
We require all those receiving British Council funds to ensure that our funds and assets are not used in breach of sanctions or to finance or support terrorist activity.
We will provide adequate and appropriate resources to implement this global policy statement and will ensure it is communicated and understood.
The British Council will review this global policy statement annually to reflect new legal and regulatory developments and ensure good practice.
This global policy statement was approved by Scott McDonald, Chief Executive, in April 2026 and is due for review in March 2027.