The figure comes from SmartSearch research, which surveyed around 500 people across the property, legal, finance and banking sectors.
The company said that the admission came as the Russia Ukraine war entered its six months, and the government is imposing stricter penalties on firms who breach sanctions regulations.
The number of sanctions has doubled since February, with 7,200 individuals and 1,250 entities have been added to the sanctions lists.
Failure to tackle Russian kleptocrats
Martin Cheek (pictured), managing director of SmartSearch and a qualified lawyer, said that the threat of committing a damaging breach of the regulations was “very real”.
He added that a report from the Commons Foreign Affairs Committee showed that the government was still failing to tackle Russian kleptocrats who launder cash illegally in the UK.
“Not only are these firms potentially putting Ukrainians at risk by giving a green light to Russians looking to circumvent sanctions, but they are also risking the eye-watering fines and reputational damage which come with breaches of the regulations. Unintentionally breaching the rules is not a defence,” Cheek said.
He continued that in this “climate of heightened awareness and increased penalties around sanctions” that some regulated companies were failing to do any checks.
Cheek said that firm should invest in robust checking and recommended electronic verification for client identity and to check sanctions lists.
