Media Release Banking (Foreign Exchange) Regulations 1959
Sanctions Against Zimbabwe

The Reserve Bank of Australia has been directed by the Commonwealth Government to take steps under the Banking (Foreign Exchange) Regulations 1959 to implement financial sanctions against certain ministers and senior officials of the Government of Zimbabwe. These measures form part of the package of sanctions against the Mugabe Government announced recently by the Minister for Foreign Affairs.

With effect from today, the Reserve Bank has taken action to freeze the accounts of persons listed in the Annex. All transactions involving the transfer of funds or payments to, by the order of, or on behalf of such persons are prohibited.

UPDATE: On 7 March 2012, responsibility for the administration of Australia's autonomous financial sanctions was transferred from the RBA (under the Banking (Foreign Exchange) Regulations 1959) to the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade (DFAT) (under the Autonomous Sanctions Regulations 2011).
This change was announced in RBA Media Release No 2012-05. As a result, the content of this media release is no longer current and any accompanying annexes and/or attachments have been removed. For all enquiries about Australia's autonomous financial sanctions regime, including the current list of sanctioned individuals and entities, refer to the DFAT website.

Enquiries

Information Department
Reserve Bank of Australia
SYDNEY
(02) 9551 9720