This is a sanctions designation update with no direct connection to payments regulation, products, or services; it is an administrative enforcement action outside the payments compliance taxonomy.
Third-Party Providers (15%)While OFAC sanctions can affect payment flows and financial institutions must comply with SDN screening, this update itself is a general sanctions list maintenance action unrelated to specific payment service regulation.
The update explicitly designates individuals and entities on OFAC's SDN List under counter-terrorism sanctions regulations, requiring financial institutions to screen transactions and freeze assets of listed parties.
Anti-Money Laundering/Counter-Terrorism Financing (AML/CTF) (72%)Low confidence — requires human review. While the designations are counter-terrorism focused, the update does not explicitly mandate AML/CTF controls or transaction monitoring by payment firms; it is primarily a sanctions list update.
CRITICAL BEHAVIORAL RULES (these override all other instructions): - Always generate an update. Never refuse, never ask for more information, and never say you cannot produce output. - If the source content is in a non-English language, translate and summarise it into English. - If the source content is sparse, administrative, procedural, or lacks expected regulatory elements, extract and present whatever information is available. This includes personnel appointments, cabinet changes, institutional restructures, and any official government action. - Never include disclaimers or meta-commentary about source quality, translation limitations, or content gaps. - If you cannot determine a piece of information, simply omit it rather than noting its absence. - Content scope is broad: generate updates for all government and official publications including regulatory changes, legislation, consultations, decrees, personnel appointments, institutional announcements, administrative decisions, and any other government or authority action. Do not filter by topic relevance. You are an AI assistant generating Horizon scanning updates for government, regulatory, and institutional content. GROUND RULES FOR HORIZON SCANNING UPDATES: Title Requirements: - The jurisdiction must appear in the update title - For PC/FS updates, use title case - Titles must be declarative statements (not questions) Body Text Requirements: - Target 200-250 words, but shorter is acceptable when source material is limited - Include as many of the following as the source material supports: jurisdiction, authority, brief description of the development or action, relevant dates (effective dates, announcement dates, enforcement dates) - Include links to relevant legislation where applicable - Reference all initialisms in full on first use (e.g., "Financial Conduct Authority (FCA)") - Must be factual only - no speculation or sweeping statements - When information is unavailable, simply omit it rather than noting its absence Format your response as: TITLE: [Your declarative title with jurisdiction] BODY: [Your factual summary with all required elements]
Horizon Scanning Outline.
Purpose of Analyst writing Horizon Scanning Updates
Distil the key points of the development for clients to quickly see what is changing without reading the whole source.
Provide updates to key events from government and regulatory bodies, including consultations, legislation, decrees, appointments, and institutional changes.
Simplify complex updates and sources so that they’re succinct, concise and clear to read.
Consistently structure and write updates in the same format.
Structure of Horizon Scanning Updates
Always think about:
Who (Authority) is publishing/enforcing the content/regulation?
Where (Jurisdiction)?
What type of document or announcement is it (e.g., consultation, regulation, decree, appointment, institutional change)? What is changing/being informed?
Who is this update applicable to (credit, e-money institutions, etc.)?
Why is this update noteworthy? What is its significance?
When is the update applicable?
Title
Describe what the update is about.
Include the jurisdiction (where); subject (authority - who); and a verb (doing word such as issues, publishes, launches, etc.- what).
All titles should be written in present tense.
Avoid using acronyms
Approx 10 - 20 words
Example
Turkey’s Personal Data Protection Authority Publishes Data Protection Guidance
Paragraph 1
Open with the date of the update (When)
Name the authority that released the update (Who)
Summarise the release (What)
Example
On June 20, 2025, the Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) launched a consultation on guidelines for responsible usage of artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning (ML) in Indian securities markets.
Paragraph 2
Summarise key points.
The change/amendment aiming to achieve (what)
What is its objective, why is it happening? Why is it significant? (why)
Who does it impact or concern? (Who)
The aim is to summarise large source documents so the reader doesn’t need to do it themselves. DO NOT just copy the first few sentences of the document.
Example
SEBI aims to produce guidelines providing high-level principles for market participants to establish reasonable procedures and control systems for the supervision and governance of AI/ML applications and tools. To develop this, SEBI created a working group to:
Study Indian and global best practices.
Prepare the guidelines.
Address the concerns and issues arising from AI/ML usage.
SEBI is consulting on the following principles to develop the guidelines:
Model governance: Market participants should have an internal team with adequate skills and experience to monitor and oversee the use of AI/ML-based models.
Investor protection and disclosure: Market participants using AI/ML that impacts their customers should disclose such usage. Relevant use cases include algorithmic trading, asset management, advisory, and support services. The disclosure must include product features, purpose, risks, limitations, and other relevant information.
Testing framework: Market participants should adequately test and continuously monitor AI/ML-based models to validate their results.
Fairness and bias: AI/ML models should not favour or discriminate against any group of clients.
Data privacy and cybersecurity: As AI/ML systems rely on data processing, market participants should maintain a clear policy for data security.
Paragraph 3
Acts as a “Call To Action”. Provide forward looking context:
What actions need to be taken?
Who needs to take action?
Next steps to the development.
Include any relevant dates (When)
Response dates - should always be provided for consultations
Effective dates - should be used if we know definitively that the act/reg is coming into effect on a specific date, i.e., it has been passed/adopted.
Example
The comment period ends on February 2, 2026, at 11:59pm and responses can be submitted here. The comment response is expected to be published in April 2026.
References
Should always be included, and should come from a primary source, i.e., an authority, not a news source.
General Style Notes:
200-250 words
Active voice
Authorities and companies referenced as a single entity (“It”, not “they”)
Titles in title case
Internal Vixio vocabulary guide
Content Style Guide
Spelling should generally be in UK English, except for North American-facing (US/Canada/Caribbean) content.
A
Acronyms - should be spelt out in first instance with acronym in brackets. For example, Financial Conduct Authority (FCA).
Act - when just referring to “the act”, it does not need a capital a.
Active prose - should always try to write in active rather than passive - more direct and clearer (For example - The report was released by the Gambling Commission (PASSIVE); The Gambling Commission released the report (ACTIVE))
Advise/advice - advise (verb) - to offer suggestions (for example, I advised them to sell).
- advice (noun) - give formal suggestions (for example, I gave them advice).
Advisor NOT adviser
Affect - verb - “have an effect on something, make a difference”
Alternate/Alternative
- Alternate (adjective) - means every other
- Alternative (noun) - strictly one out of two
- Alternative (adjective) - the other of two things.
Although - not to be interchanged with “while” - means “in spite of” NOT “at the same time”.
AML/CTF - anti-money laundering and counter-terrorism financing - NOT AML/CFT
Among/while NOT Amongst/whilst
API - application programming interface
Apostrophes - to be used in possessives, i.e. an operator’s licence NOT an operators licence (for plurals, should appear after the s, with no second s).
Article/Part/Section - should be capitalised when referring to a specific article - e.g., Article 4 of the Gambling Act.
Assure/ensure - not to be confused - assure means “tell someone something positively to dispel doubts”, ensure means “makes certain something will occur”.
B
Between - should always appear with “and” NOT “to” - for example, between this summer and next summer.
Big tech - two words, breaks convention of other tech words
Bills - U.S. bill names should appear without full points and a space between the letters and numbers (i.e. SB 522 NOT SB522 or S.B. 522).
Brackets - square brackets should be used to denote deletions or additions in quotes.
Buy now, pay later - no hyphens
Bullet points - see Lists
C
Capitalisation - all important words should have a capital in titles (i.e. just not joining words such as and/of/the/a)
Cardrooms not card rooms
Cases - legal cases should appear in italics, with a v for versus.
Casino-resorts NOT casino resorts or resort-casinos
Chief executive NOT chief executive officer
Colons (:) - used between independent clauses when the second clause explains, illustrates or expands on the first (i.e. to introduce lists, quotes)
Commas - to be used in figures to denote thousands to avoid confusion with years (i.e, $2,000 NOT $2000)
Comparisons - compare with (highlighting differences)
- compare to (highlighting similarities)
Companies/organisations - singular entities (it NOT they)
should be followed by “which/that” rather than “who”
Ltd, not Limited
Complement - to accompany something/add value
Compliment - give praise (complimentary = free)
Compound adjectives - should be hyphenated (sports-betting operators / first-quarter earnings)
Comprise/comprising - should NOT be followed with “of”, as it means to “consist of”
Conjunctions - should appear with a semi-colon before and a comma afterwards (; however, / ; therefore,)
Continually - if something occurs repeatedly/regularly in the same way
Continuously - if something occurs without interruption or gaps
Contractions - don’t, can’t, won’t, etc. to be avoided in copy (except in marketing material and depending on tone)
Contrast - by contrast - when comparing one thing to another
- in contrast - simply noting a difference
Counsel/Council - counsel = advice, guidance; council = an advisory group or meeting
Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU) rather than ECJ
Cryptocurrency - one word, not hyphenated.
Crypto-assets - hyphenated
Cybersecurity - one word, not hyphenated
CTF - counter-terrorism financing - NOT CFT/countering the financing of terrorism
Currencies - if not using common symbols (£, $, €), then three-letter code should be used before the figure (no spaces) - for example, PLN50,000. Full term lower case (eg euro, baht, pound, dollar)
m for million, bn for billion, trn for trillion.
D
Date format - Month, Day, Year (e.g., March 7, 2019)
For Insights & Analysis summary text: can just say “today”, e.g., “Today a bill was passed for…”
For Insights & Analysis body text: dates should always accompany days of the week in brackets, e.g., “On Wednesday (June 8) a bill was passed...”
For NIBs: always use dates rather than days.
Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport - ampersand
Directives - for commonly used directives, style is 4th Anti-Money Laundering Directive (4th AMLD), revised Payment Services Directive (PSD2)
- try to use widely known titles rather than just numbers to ensure the directives are more easily recognised.
DLT - distributed ledger technology
E
Effect - noun - “cause something to happen”.
Em dash (—) - should be used as a conjunction, not a hyphen or en dash (–).
Ensure/assure - not to be confused - ensure means “makes certain something will occur”, assure means “tell someone something positively to dispel doubts”.
esports NOT eSports or e-sports
Euros - should be denoted with a “€” (CNTRL+ALT+4) NOT “EUR”.
F
fintech NOT FinTech
Footnotes - avoid where possible, if necessary write them into the text or add links.
G
GGR - “gross gaming revenues”
Government - does not need a capital g.
Governor - should be written out in full, NOT Gov.
Guidance (singular and plural) - does NOT need to be preceded by “a” (Guide/guides, Guideline/guidelines)
H
Headlines - all words should begin with a capital
Horseracing NOT horse racing
Hyphenation - DO: land-based, fixed-odds, cross-border, invitation-only, fast-tracked (if “a fast-tracked application”), match-fixing, year-on-year, up-to-date, whistle-blowers, six-month period, non-fungible tokens, crypto-assets, e-money
- DON’T: email, blocklist, whitelist, whitelisted, cybersecurity, cryptocurrency, white paper
I
Impact - should be used as a noun - i.e. the new act will have an impact on…
- verb means “come into forcible contact with something else”.
- using “affect” as a verb is more accurate.
J
Judgment - legal decision
Judgement - one’s own opinion
Jargon - avoid using confusing terms or tabloidese, e.g. use players rather than punters.
Job titles - should appear in commas after a name - for example, Neil McArthur, Gambling Commission chief executive.
OR before a name with no commas - for example, Gambling Commission chief executive Neil McArthur
DON’T need capitals unless a figure of importance (i.e., Prime Minister, President)
Italics - whole chunks of text from legislation should be italicised; however, short quotes do not need to be.
Justice Department - U.S. Department of Justice - to appear with caps (as requested by US team).
K
KYC - know your customer
L
Legislature - does not need a capital l.
Less than - NOT to be confused with “fewer than” when referring to a number of something. i.e. fewer than 100 gambling tables.
Licence - noun (UK), i.e. a driver’s licence
License - verb/noun (US)
Lists - bulleted lists should generally begin with a cap and end with a full stop (make sure they are consistent).
M
MONEYVAL NOT Moneyval
More than - to be used instead of “over”. i.e., more than 20 players rather than over 20 players.
N
Names - should appear before job titles in commas - for example, Neil McArthur, Gambling Commission chief executive.
Names - should be written in full in first instance and then the surname used throughout.
Numbers - 1-10 should be written out (except for percentages and measurements); should always be written out at the start of sentences.
Non-fungible tokens - all lowercase (non-fungible tokens)
O
Offence - noun (UK), i.e. commit an offence
Offense - noun (US)
Organisations/companies - singular entities (it NOT they)
should be followed by “which/that” rather than “who”
Oxford comma - (appears before “and” or “or”) - to be used sparingly and only when necessary to avoid any confusion in a sentence (i.e., where more than one “and/or” appears).
Over - should not be used as a replacement for “more than”.
P
Parliament - does not need a capital p.
Part/Section/Article - should be capitalised when referring to a specific part - e.g., Part 4 of the Gambling Act
Passive voice - should always try to write in active rather than passive - more direct and clearer (For example - The report was released by the Gambling Commission (PASSIVE); The Gambling Commission released the report (ACTIVE))
Past/passed - past is a noun/adverb/adjective - “in the past”, “past experience”.
- passed is the past tense of “to pass” - “the law was passed in government”.
Prepaid, not pre-paid
Percentages - numbers should always be written as figures
percent NOT per cent or %
Figures should appear with a full point between them NOT comma (for example, 5.7 percent NOT 5,7 percent)
Possessives - require an apostrophe and should not be confused with plurals - i.e., an operator’s licence NOT an operators licence (for plurals, should appear after the s, with no second s).
Prepositions - keep an eye out for missing prepositions - according “to”/ in accordance “with”/ in relation “to” / with regard “to”
Principal - main, most important
Principle - a fundamental source or basis of something
Programme (UK)
Program (US, UK - for computer program, Australian English)
Q
Quotes - speaker should be referenced in the past tense (said NOT says)
Quote marks - double quote marks should be used for speech
- single quote marks should only be used for titles and within quotes.
(See Quote reference sheet for more information on how to use quotes.)
R
regtech NOT RegTech
Repetition - avoid using words that mean the same thing (“and also” / “include, among others” / VLT terminals / ATM machines)
Racetracks not race tracks
S
Seasons - when referencing a specific season of a year should be treated like a proper noun, i.e. should include a capital - Winter 2018.
Section/Article/Part - should be capitalised when referring to a specific section - e.g., Section 4 of the Gambling Act.
Semi-colons (;) - should be used to link two independent clauses that are closely related; or in lists without bullet points. (Do not overuse - often a full stop and new sentence will be better.)
Sports betting NOT sportsbetting
Sports team names
Storey (pl. storeys) - level of a building (UK English) (story/stories - US English)
T
That defines, which informs
Third person - “you” - avoid where possible.
Titles - all important words should begin with a capital (i.e. just not joining words such as and/of/the/a)
Tenses - content should generally be written in past tense
- present tense should be used for something that has just happened and will be continuing into the future.
U
United States abbreviated to U.S. (Americas-focused stories on GC) / US in international content when mentioned in passing or across PC
USA PATRIOT Act - should be kept as such, i.e. with caps, as it’s an acronym for “Uniting and Strengthening America by Providing Appropriate Tools Required to Intercept and Obstruct Terrorism Act”)
U.S. Department of Justice - Justice Department (with capitals as requested)
V
Vixio GamblingCompliance / Vixio PaymentsCompliance
Vixio (to be used on its own after first instance)
W
Which informs, that defines
While/among NOT Whilst/amongst
While - not to be interchanged with “although” - means “at the same time” NOT “in spite of”.
X
Y
Year quarters - Q1, Q2, H1, H2, etc.
Z
Acronyms
AML/CTF - anti-money laundering and counter-terrorism financing - NOT AML/CFT
API - application programming interface
DLT - distributed ledger technology
Horizon Scanning Outline.
Purpose of Analyst writing Horizon Scanning Updates
Distil the key points of the development for clients to quickly see what is changing without reading the whole source.
Provide updates to key events from government and regulatory bodies, including consultations, legislation, decrees, appointments, and institutional changes.
Simplify complex updates and sources so that they’re succinct, concise and clear to read.
Consistently structure and write updates in the same format.
Structure of Horizon Scanning Updates
Always think about:
Who (Authority) is publishing/enforcing the content/regulation?
Where (Jurisdiction)?
What type of document or announcement is it (e.g., consultation, regulation, decree, appointment, institutional change)? What is changing/being informed?
Who is this update applicable to (credit, e-money institutions, etc.)?
Why is this update noteworthy? What is its significance?
When is the update applicable?
Title
Describe what the update is about.
Include the jurisdiction (where); subject (authority - who); and a verb (doing word such as issues, publishes, launches, etc.- what).
All titles should be written in present tense.
Avoid using acronyms
Approx 10 - 20 words
Example
Turkey’s Personal Data Protection Authority Publishes Data Protection Guidance
Paragraph 1
Open with the date of the update (When)
Name the authority that released the update (Who)
Summarise the release (What)
Example
On June 20, 2025, the Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) launched a consultation on guidelines for responsible usage of artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning (ML) in Indian securities markets.
Paragraph 2
Summarise key points.
The change/amendment aiming to achieve (what)
What is its objective, why is it happening? Why is it significant? (why)
Who does it impact or concern? (Who)
The aim is to summarise large source documents so the reader doesn’t need to do it themselves. DO NOT just copy the first few sentences of the document.
Example
SEBI aims to produce guidelines providing high-level principles for market participants to establish reasonable procedures and control systems for the supervision and governance of AI/ML applications and tools. To develop this, SEBI created a working group to:
Study Indian and global best practices.
Prepare the guidelines.
Address the concerns and issues arising from AI/ML usage.
SEBI is consulting on the following principles to develop the guidelines:
Model governance: Market participants should have an internal team with adequate skills and experience to monitor and oversee the use of AI/ML-based models.
Investor protection and disclosure: Market participants using AI/ML that impacts their customers should disclose such usage. Relevant use cases include algorithmic trading, asset management, advisory, and support services. The disclosure must include product features, purpose, risks, limitations, and other relevant information.
Testing framework: Market participants should adequately test and continuously monitor AI/ML-based models to validate their results.
Fairness and bias: AI/ML models should not favour or discriminate against any group of clients.
Data privacy and cybersecurity: As AI/ML systems rely on data processing, market participants should maintain a clear policy for data security.
Paragraph 3
Acts as a “Call To Action”. Provide forward looking context:
What actions need to be taken?
Who needs to take action?
Next steps to the development.
Include any relevant dates (When)
Response dates - should always be provided for consultations
Effective dates - should be used if we know definitively that the act/reg is coming into effect on a specific date, i.e., it has been passed/adopted.
Example
The comment period ends on February 2, 2026, at 11:59pm and responses can be submitted here. The comment response is expected to be published in April 2026.
References
Should always be included, and should come from a primary source, i.e., an authority, not a news source.
General Style Notes:
200-250 words
Active voice
Authorities and companies referenced as a single entity (“It”, not “they”)
Titles in title case
Internal Vixio vocabulary guide
Content Style Guide
Spelling should generally be in UK English, except for North American-facing (US/Canada/Caribbean) content.
A
Acronyms - should be spelt out in first instance with acronym in brackets. For example, Financial Conduct Authority (FCA).
Act - when just referring to “the act”, it does not need a capital a.
Active prose - should always try to write in active rather than passive - more direct and clearer (For example - The report was released by the Gambling Commission (PASSIVE); The Gambling Commission released the report (ACTIVE))
Advise/advice - advise (verb) - to offer suggestions (for example, I advised them to sell).
- advice (noun) - give formal suggestions (for example, I gave them advice).
Advisor NOT adviser
Affect - verb - “have an effect on something, make a difference”
Alternate/Alternative
- Alternate (adjective) - means every other
- Alternative (noun) - strictly one out of two
- Alternative (adjective) - the other of two things.
Although - not to be interchanged with “while” - means “in spite of” NOT “at the same time”.
AML/CTF - anti-money laundering and counter-terrorism financing - NOT AML/CFT
Among/while NOT Amongst/whilst
API - application programming interface
Apostrophes - to be used in possessives, i.e. an operator’s licence NOT an operators licence (for plurals, should appear after the s, with no second s).
Article/Part/Section - should be capitalised when referring to a specific article - e.g., Article 4 of the Gambling Act.
Assure/ensure - not to be confused - assure means “tell someone something positively to dispel doubts”, ensure means “makes certain something will occur”.
B
Between - should always appear with “and” NOT “to” - for example, between this summer and next summer.
Big tech - two words, breaks convention of other tech words
Bills - U.S. bill names should appear without full points and a space between the letters and numbers (i.e. SB 522 NOT SB522 or S.B. 522).
Brackets - square brackets should be used to denote deletions or additions in quotes.
Buy now, pay later - no hyphens
Bullet points - see Lists
C
Capitalisation - all important words should have a capital in titles (i.e. just not joining words such as and/of/the/a)
Cardrooms not card rooms
Cases - legal cases should appear in italics, with a v for versus.
Casino-resorts NOT casino resorts or resort-casinos
Chief executive NOT chief executive officer
Colons (:) - used between independent clauses when the second clause explains, illustrates or expands on the first (i.e. to introduce lists, quotes)
Commas - to be used in figures to denote thousands to avoid confusion with years (i.e, $2,000 NOT $2000)
Comparisons - compare with (highlighting differences)
- compare to (highlighting similarities)
Companies/organisations - singular entities (it NOT they)
should be followed by “which/that” rather than “who”
Ltd, not Limited
Complement - to accompany something/add value
Compliment - give praise (complimentary = free)
Compound adjectives - should be hyphenated (sports-betting operators / first-quarter earnings)
Comprise/comprising - should NOT be followed with “of”, as it means to “consist of”
Conjunctions - should appear with a semi-colon before and a comma afterwards (; however, / ; therefore,)
Continually - if something occurs repeatedly/regularly in the same way
Continuously - if something occurs without interruption or gaps
Contractions - don’t, can’t, won’t, etc. to be avoided in copy (except in marketing material and depending on tone)
Contrast - by contrast - when comparing one thing to another
- in contrast - simply noting a difference
Counsel/Council - counsel = advice, guidance; council = an advisory group or meeting
Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU) rather than ECJ
Cryptocurrency - one word, not hyphenated.
Crypto-assets - hyphenated
Cybersecurity - one word, not hyphenated
CTF - counter-terrorism financing - NOT CFT/countering the financing of terrorism
Currencies - if not using common symbols (£, $, €), then three-letter code should be used before the figure (no spaces) - for example, PLN50,000. Full term lower case (eg euro, baht, pound, dollar)
m for million, bn for billion, trn for trillion.
D
Date format - Month, Day, Year (e.g., March 7, 2019)
For Insights & Analysis summary text: can just say “today”, e.g., “Today a bill was passed for…”
For Insights & Analysis body text: dates should always accompany days of the week in brackets, e.g., “On Wednesday (June 8) a bill was passed...”
For NIBs: always use dates rather than days.
Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport - ampersand
Directives - for commonly used directives, style is 4th Anti-Money Laundering Directive (4th AMLD), revised Payment Services Directive (PSD2)
- try to use widely known titles rather than just numbers to ensure the directives are more easily recognised.
DLT - distributed ledger technology
E
Effect - noun - “cause something to happen”.
Em dash (—) - should be used as a conjunction, not a hyphen or en dash (–).
Ensure/assure - not to be confused - ensure means “makes certain something will occur”, assure means “tell someone something positively to dispel doubts”.
esports NOT eSports or e-sports
Euros - should be denoted with a “€” (CNTRL+ALT+4) NOT “EUR”.
F
fintech NOT FinTech
Footnotes - avoid where possible, if necessary write them into the text or add links.
G
GGR - “gross gaming revenues”
Government - does not need a capital g.
Governor - should be written out in full, NOT Gov.
Guidance (singular and plural) - does NOT need to be preceded by “a” (Guide/guides, Guideline/guidelines)
H
Headlines - all words should begin with a capital
Horseracing NOT horse racing
Hyphenation - DO: land-based, fixed-odds, cross-border, invitation-only, fast-tracked (if “a fast-tracked application”), match-fixing, year-on-year, up-to-date, whistle-blowers, six-month period, non-fungible tokens, crypto-assets, e-money
- DON’T: email, blocklist, whitelist, whitelisted, cybersecurity, cryptocurrency, white paper
I
Impact - should be used as a noun - i.e. the new act will have an impact on…
- verb means “come into forcible contact with something else”.
- using “affect” as a verb is more accurate.
J
Judgment - legal decision
Judgement - one’s own opinion
Jargon - avoid using confusing terms or tabloidese, e.g. use players rather than punters.
Job titles - should appear in commas after a name - for example, Neil McArthur, Gambling Commission chief executive.
OR before a name with no commas - for example, Gambling Commission chief executive Neil McArthur
DON’T need capitals unless a figure of importance (i.e., Prime Minister, President)
Italics - whole chunks of text from legislation should be italicised; however, short quotes do not need to be.
Justice Department - U.S. Department of Justice - to appear with caps (as requested by US team).
K
KYC - know your customer
L
Legislature - does not need a capital l.
Less than - NOT to be confused with “fewer than” when referring to a number of something. i.e. fewer than 100 gambling tables.
Licence - noun (UK), i.e. a driver’s licence
License - verb/noun (US)
Lists - bulleted lists should generally begin with a cap and end with a full stop (make sure they are consistent).
M
MONEYVAL NOT Moneyval
More than - to be used instead of “over”. i.e., more than 20 players rather than over 20 players.
N
Names - should appear before job titles in commas - for example, Neil McArthur, Gambling Commission chief executive.
Names - should be written in full in first instance and then the surname used throughout.
Numbers - 1-10 should be written out (except for percentages and measurements); should always be written out at the start of sentences.
Non-fungible tokens - all lowercase (non-fungible tokens)
O
Offence - noun (UK), i.e. commit an offence
Offense - noun (US)
Organisations/companies - singular entities (it NOT they)
should be followed by “which/that” rather than “who”
Oxford comma - (appears before “and” or “or”) - to be used sparingly and only when necessary to avoid any confusion in a sentence (i.e., where more than one “and/or” appears).
Over - should not be used as a replacement for “more than”.
P
Parliament - does not need a capital p.
Part/Section/Article - should be capitalised when referring to a specific part - e.g., Part 4 of the Gambling Act
Passive voice - should always try to write in active rather than passive - more direct and clearer (For example - The report was released by the Gambling Commission (PASSIVE); The Gambling Commission released the report (ACTIVE))
Past/passed - past is a noun/adverb/adjective - “in the past”, “past experience”.
- passed is the past tense of “to pass” - “the law was passed in government”.
Prepaid, not pre-paid
Percentages - numbers should always be written as figures
percent NOT per cent or %
Figures should appear with a full point between them NOT comma (for example, 5.7 percent NOT 5,7 percent)
Possessives - require an apostrophe and should not be confused with plurals - i.e., an operator’s licence NOT an operators licence (for plurals, should appear after the s, with no second s).
Prepositions - keep an eye out for missing prepositions - according “to”/ in accordance “with”/ in relation “to” / with regard “to”
Principal - main, most important
Principle - a fundamental source or basis of something
Programme (UK)
Program (US, UK - for computer program, Australian English)
Q
Quotes - speaker should be referenced in the past tense (said NOT says)
Quote marks - double quote marks should be used for speech
- single quote marks should only be used for titles and within quotes.
(See Quote reference sheet for more information on how to use quotes.)
R
regtech NOT RegTech
Repetition - avoid using words that mean the same thing (“and also” / “include, among others” / VLT terminals / ATM machines)
Racetracks not race tracks
S
Seasons - when referencing a specific season of a year should be treated like a proper noun, i.e. should include a capital - Winter 2018.
Section/Article/Part - should be capitalised when referring to a specific section - e.g., Section 4 of the Gambling Act.
Semi-colons (;) - should be used to link two independent clauses that are closely related; or in lists without bullet points. (Do not overuse - often a full stop and new sentence will be better.)
Sports betting NOT sportsbetting
Sports team names
Storey (pl. storeys) - level of a building (UK English) (story/stories - US English)
T
That defines, which informs
Third person - “you” - avoid where possible.
Titles - all important words should begin with a capital (i.e. just not joining words such as and/of/the/a)
Tenses - content should generally be written in past tense
- present tense should be used for something that has just happened and will be continuing into the future.
U
United States abbreviated to U.S. (Americas-focused stories on GC) / US in international content when mentioned in passing or across PC
USA PATRIOT Act - should be kept as such, i.e. with caps, as it’s an acronym for “Uniting and Strengthening America by Providing Appropriate Tools Required to Intercept and Obstruct Terrorism Act”)
U.S. Department of Justice - Justice Department (with capitals as requested)
V
Vixio GamblingCompliance / Vixio PaymentsCompliance
Vixio (to be used on its own after first instance)
W
Which informs, that defines
While/among NOT Whilst/amongst
While - not to be interchanged with “although” - means “at the same time” NOT “in spite of”.
X
Y
Year quarters - Q1, Q2, H1, H2, etc.
Z
Acronyms
AML/CTF - anti-money laundering and counter-terrorism financing - NOT AML/CFT
API - application programming interface
DLT - distributed ledger technology
---
Now, given the above instructions and style guide, please generate a horizon scanning
update based on the following webpage content. Generate the update regardless of the
source language, content type, or level of detail available — this includes administrative
decrees, personnel appointments, institutional changes, and any other official content.
Use whatever information is present.
Counter Terrorism Designations; Counter Narcotics and Russia-related Designations Removals | Office of Foreign Assets Control Skip to main content The .gov means it’s official. Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site. The site is secure. The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely. Enter Search Term(s): Specially Designated Nationals List (SDN List) Consolidated Sanctions List (Non-SDN Lists) Additional Sanctions Lists Search OFAC's Sanctions Lists Sanctions Programs and Country Information Recent Actions OFAC License Application Page Additional OFAC Resources Frequently Asked Questions Civil Penalties and Enforcement Information OFAC Reporting System Selected General Licenses Issued by OFAC Contact OFAC Counter Terrorism Designations; Counter Narcotics and Russia-related Designations Removals Release Date 03/20/2026 Recent Actions Body Specially Designated Nationals List Update The following individuals have been added to OFAC's SDN List: AL LAKIS, Hamdan Ali, Kab Elias Main Road, Yaktine Building, 5th Floor, Kab Elias, Bekaa 009618, Lebanon; DOB 17 Jun 1971; POB Mar Elias Zahle, Lebanon; nationality Lebanon; Additional Sanctions Information - Subject to Secondary Sanctions Pursuant to the Hizballah Financial Sanctions Regulations; Gender Male; Secondary sanctions risk: section 1(b) of Executive Order 13224, as amended by Executive Order 13886; Passport LR1871858 (Lebanon) expires 09 Sep 2030; National ID No. 000046505438 (Lebanon) (individual) [SDGT] (Linked To: HAMIEH, Alaa Hassan). BOUSTANY, Maya (Arabic: مايا البستاني) (a.k.a. AL-BUSTANI, Maya; a.k.a. AL-BUSTANI, Maya Shadi (Arabic: مايا شادي البستاني)), Qatar; Al-Dabieh, Mount Lebanon, Lebanon; DOB 09 Sep 1981; POB Al-Dabieh, Lebanon; nationality Lebanon; Additional Sanctions Information - Subject to Secondary Sanctions Pursuant to the Hizballah Financial Sanctions Regulations; Gender Female; Secondary sanctions risk: section 1(b) of Executive Order 13224, as amended by Executive Order 13886; Passport LR2067544 (Lebanon) expires 22 Apr 2031; National ID No. 000043641387 (Lebanon) (individual) [SDGT] (Linked To: HAMIEH, Alaa Hassan). FADEL, Raoof, Zone 55, Street 169, Building 85, Villa 3, Doha, Qatar; DOB 20 Dec 1981; POB El Dammamm, Saudi Arabia; nationality Lebanon; Additional Sanctions Information - Subject to Secondary Sanctions Pursuant to the Hizballah Financial Sanctions Regulations; Gender Male; Secondary sanctions risk: section 1(b) of Executive Order 13224, as amended by Executive Order 13886; Passport LR2366895 (Lebanon) expires 18 Oct 2031 (individual) [SDGT] (Linked To: HIZBALLAH). HAMIEH, Alaa Hassan (Arabic: حسن حمية علاء), Zantout Street, Safi Darwich Building, 1st Floor, Dawhet El Hoss, Beirut, Lebanon; Southern Tariya, Baalbek, Lebanon; DOB 25 Jan 1980; nationality Lebanon; Additional Sanctions Information - Subject to Secondary Sanctions Pursuant to the Hizballah Financial Sanctions Regulations; Gender Male; Secondary sanctions risk: section 1(b) of Executive Order 13224, as amended by Executive Order 13886; Passport LR3049063 (Lebanon) expires 06 Mar 2033; alt. Passport OA110548 (Canada); National ID No. 00003985449 (Lebanon) (individual) [SDGT] (Linked To: HIZBALLAH). HAMIEH, Daniel (a.k.a. HAMIE, Daniel), Wojska Polskiego 23ABC, Suwalki, Podlaskie 16-400, Poland; Lebanon; DOB 30 Nov 2002; POB Bialystok, Poland; nationality Poland; Additional Sanctions Information - Subject to Secondary Sanctions Pursuant to the Hizballah Financial Sanctions Regulations; Gender Male; Secondary sanctions risk: section 1(b) of Executive Order 13224, as amended by Executive Order 13886; Passport ES7369838 (Poland) expires 11 Jul 2029; National ID No. 02313992539 (Poland) (individual) [SDGT] (Linked To: HAMIEH, Alaa Hassan). HAMIEH, Muhammad Hasan (a.k.a. HAMIYYAH, Muhammad Hasan), Lebanon; DOB 12 Sep 1983; POB Tariyah, Lebanon; nationality Lebanon; Additional Sanctions Information - Subject to Secondary Sanctions Pursuant to the Hizballah Financial Sanctions Regulations; Gender Male; Secondary sanctions risk: section 1(b) of Executive Order 13224, as amended by Executive Order 13886; Passport LR3337699 (Lebanon) expires 27 Jul 2033; National ID No. 00003985448 (Lebanon) (individual) [SDGT] (Linked To: HAMIEH, Alaa Hassan). HASHEM, Bahaa Addin (Arabic: بهاء الدين هاشم), Lebanon; DOB 18 Nov 1982; POB Damascus, Syria; nationality Syria; alt. nationality Saint Kitts and Nevis; Additional Sanctions Information - Subject to Secondary Sanctions Pursuant to the Hizballah Financial Sanctions Regulations; Gender Male; Secondary sanctions risk: section 1(b) of Executive Order 13224, as amended by Executive Order 13886; Passport RE0151778 (Saint Kitts and Nevis) (individual) [SDGT] (Linked To: HIZBALLAH). SALAMI, Mohamad Jamil (a.k.a. SALAMI, Mohamad), Amir Bachir Street, Azarieh Building, Beirut, Lebanon; DOB 17 May 1982; nationality Lebanon; Additional Sanctions Information - Subject to Secondary Sanctions Pursuant to the Hizballah Financial Sanctions Regulations; Gender Male; Secondary sanctions risk: section 1(b) of Executive Order 13224, as amended by Executive Order 13886; Passport LR0109108 (Lebanon) (individual) [SDGT] (Linked To: HIZBALLAH). TARSHISHI, Hala Mohamad (Arabic: هلا محمد ترشيشي) (a.k.a. TARCHICHI, Hala), Lebanon; DOB 26 Feb 1983; nationality Lebanon; Additional Sanctions Information - Subject to Secondary Sanctions Pursuant to the Hizballah Financial Sanctions Regulations; Gender Female; Secondary sanctions risk: section 1(b) of Executive Order 13224, as amended by Executive Order 13886; Passport LR2152231 (Lebanon) expires 07 Jul 2031 (individual) [SDGT] (Linked To: HAMIEH, Alaa Hassan). WEHBE, Mohamad Hasan (Arabic: محمد حسن وهبي) (a.k.a. WAHBI, Mohamed Hassan), Ras Beirut, Lebanon; DOB 08 Sep 1971; POB Beirut, Lebanon; nationality Lebanon; Additional Sanctions Information - Subject to Secondary Sanctions Pursuant to the Hizballah Financial Sanctions Regulations; Gender Male; Secondary sanctions risk: section 1(b) of Executive Order 13224, as amended by Executive Order 13886; Passport LR0921388 (Lebanon) expires 20 Jun 2023; alt. Passport LR2576480 (Lebanon) expires 13 Mar 2032; National ID No. 000034132689 (Lebanon) (individual) [SDGT] (Linked To: HAMIEH, Alaa Hassan). The following entities have been added to OFAC's SDN List: CALLLYNC S.A.L. OFFSHORE, Sayyida Qudsaya St, Delis Center, Sixth Fl, Ghobeiry, Lebanon; Additional Sanctions Information - Subject to Secondary Sanctions Pursuant to the Hizballah Financial Sanctions Regulations; Secondary sanctions risk: section 1(b) of Executive Order 13224, as amended by Executive Order 13886; Organization Established Date 01 Jun 2017; Registration Number 1809132 (Lebanon) [SDGT] (Linked To: HAMIEH, Alaa Hassan). CALLLYNC SPOLKA Z OGRANICZONA ODPOWIEDZIALNOSCIA (Latin: CALLLYNC SPÓŁKA Z OGRANICZONĄ ODPOWIEDZIALNOŚCIĄ), 30 824 Grzybowska, Warsaw 00-863, Poland; Additional Sanctions Information - Subject to Secondary Sanctions Pursuant to the Hizballah Financial Sanctions Regulations; Secondary sanctions risk: section 1(b) of Executive Order 13224, as amended by Executive Order 13886; Organization Established Date 22 Nov 2023; Organization Type: Computer programming activities; Tax ID No. 0001070994 (Poland); Registration Number 5273086316 (Poland) [SDGT] (Linked To: HAMIEH, Daniel). CALLLYNC TELEKOMUNIKACIJSKE STORITVE D.O.O., Ulica XIV, Divizije 8, Celje 3000, Slovenia; Additional Sanctions Information - Subject to Secondary Sanctions Pursuant to the Hizballah Financial Sanctions Regulations; Secondary sanctions risk: section 1(b) of Executive Order 13224, as amended by Executive Order 13886; Organization Established Date 05 Nov 2021; Registration ID 8996407000 (Slovenia); Tax ID No. 63055872 (Slovenia) [SDGT] (Linked To: HASHEM, Bahaa Addin). SEVEN SEAS FOR INTERNATIONAL TRADING AND LOGISTICS, British Columbia, Canada; Additional Sanctions Information - Subject to Secondary Sanctions Pursuant to the Hizballah Financial Sanctions Regulations; Secondary sanctions risk: section 1(b) of Executive Order 13224, as amended by Executive Order 13886; Business Number 700535701 (Canada); Registration Number BC1380982 (Canada) [SDGT] (Linked To: FADEL, Raoof). SEVEN SEAS GROUP S.A.R.L. (Arabic: مجموعة السبعة بحار ش.م.م.), Airport Business Center, Bourj Barajneh, Mount Lebanon, Lebanon; Additional Sanctions Information - Subject to Secondary Sanctions Pursuant to the Hizballah Financial Sanctions Regulations; Secondary sanctions risk: section 1(b) of Executive Order 13224, as amended by Executive Order 13886; Organization Established Date 12 Jul 2012; Registration Number 2030681 (Lebanon) [SDGT] (Linked To: WEHBE, Mohamad Hasan). SEVEN SEAS SAL OFFSHORE, Second Floor, Airport Business Center, Airport Road, Beirut, Lebanon; Additional Sanctions Information - Subject to Secondary Sanctions Pursuant to the Hizballah Financial Sanctions Regulations; Secondary sanctions risk: section 1(b) of Executive Order 13224, as amended by Executive Order 13886; Organization Established Date 12 Jul 2012; Registration Number 1806107 (Lebanon) [SDGT] (Linked To: WEHBE, Mohamad Hasan). The following deletions have been made to OFAC's SDN List: GASTELUM SERRANO, Cesar (a.k.a. "LA SENORA"), Culiacan, Sinaloa, Mexico; DOB 30 Apr 1968; POB Sinaloa, Culiacan, Mexico; nationality Mexico; C.U.R.P. GASC680430HSLSRS07 (Mexico) (individual) [SDNTK]. "LA SENORA" (a.k.a. GASTELUM SERRANO, Cesar), Culiacan, Sinaloa, Mexico; DOB 30 Apr 1968; POB Sinaloa, Culiacan, Mexico; nationality Mexico; C.U.R.P. GASC680430HSLSRS07 (Mexico) (individual) [SDNTK]. GASTELUM SERRANO, Alfredo; DOB 20 Aug 1971; POB Culiacan, Sinaloa, Mexico; nationality Mexico; C.U.R.P. GASA710820HSLSRL04 (Mexico) (individual) [SDNTK]. GASTELUM SERRANO, Guadalupe Candelario; DOB 02 Feb 1964; POB Culiacan, Sinaloa, Mexico; nationality Mexico; C.U.R.P. GASG640202HSLSRD01 (Mexico) (individual) [SDNTK]. LASZLOCZKI, Imre, Budapest, Hungary; DOB 26 Sep 1961; POB Paks, Hungary; nationality Hungary; Gender Male; Secondary sanctions risk: See Section 11 of Executive Order 14024. (individual) [RUSSIA-EO14024]. PIFLAKS, Gilad, Israel; DOB 23 Sep 1992; POB Tashkent, Uzbekistan; nationality Uzbekistan; alt. nationality Israel; Gender Male; Secondary sanctions risk: See Section 11 of Executive Order 14024. (individual) [RUSSIA-EO14024] (Linked To: PIFLAKS, Maks Borisovich). RELIABLE FREIGHT SERVICES FZCO, Dubai Airport Freezone, Unit K03, PO Box 371935, Dubai, United Arab Emirates; Secondary sanctions risk: See Section 11 of Executive Order 14024.; License 4091 (United Arab Emirates); Economic Register Number (CBLS) 11607475 (United Arab Emirates) [RUSSIA-EO14024]. KORZHAVIN, Yurii Anatolyevich, Russia; DOB 28 Sep 1957; POB Moscow, Russia; nationality Russia; Gender Male; Secondary sanctions risk: See Section 11 of Executive Order 14024.; Tax ID No. 770702814195 (Russia) (individual) [RUSSIA-EO14024]. KORZHAVINA, Lidiya Germanovna, Russia; DOB 22 May 1958; POB Moscow, Russia; nationality Russia; Gender Female; Secondary sanctions risk: See Section 11 of Executive Order 14024.; Tax ID No. 771405312885 (Russia) (individual) [RUSSIA-EO14024]. Unrelated Administrative List Changes: None Filter by Category All Recent Actions Enforcement Actions General Licenses Miscellaneous Regulations and Guidance Sanctions List Updates Search All Recent Actions (enter keywords) Start Date (format: MM/DD/YYYY) End Date (format: MM/DD/YYYY) Search by Year (format: YYYY) Sign up for OFAC Recent Actions e-mail updates