UK to shield Falklands investors from Argentine sanctions under trade protection law

The British government said on 13 October 2026 that it will introduce measures to protect UK businesses and individuals from Argentine domestic measures aimed at lawful commercial activity linked to the Falkland Islands. The Department for Business, Innovation, Science and Trade and the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office said in a joint press release that the measures would be made under Protection of Trading Interests (PTI) legislation.

The step responds to a sanctions campaign that Argentina launched in September against oil companies, their shareholders and suppliers involved in projects around the islands, which Argentina claims and calls the Malvinas.

What London plans

According to the press release, the government will bring forward secondary legislation as quickly as possible, with the aim of bringing it into force before the end of the year. PTI legislation prevents UK persons from complying with specific extraterritorial sanctions measures, the government said, and the new measures will target only Argentine extraterritorial measures affecting the Falkland Islands. The underlying law is the Protection of Trading Interests Act 1980, which provides protection from requirements, prohibitions and judgments imposed under the laws of countries outside the United Kingdom.

The government said the purpose is not to restrict lawful trade with Argentina. The release did not name the affected companies or list the Argentine measures that would be covered.

Business and Trade Secretary Jonathan Reynolds said the move makes clear “that this Government will act where Argentina seeks to impede lawful UK commercial activity.” Foreign Secretary Ed Miliband said: “Argentina’s attempts to intimidate businesses and individuals engaged in legitimate commercial activity are unacceptable.”

Argentina’s sanctions drive

In a national broadcast on 3 September, Argentine President Javier Milei said he would sign a decree to speed up sanction procedures under Law 26,659 against those taking part in oil extraction around the islands. He said the Sea Lion project, operated by Navitas Petroleum and Rockhopper Exploration, was due to begin offshore production in the coming months. He said the foreign ministry had sent about 180 notes to companies and to more than 29 countries, that companies involved directly or indirectly would be barred from operating in Argentina, and that he would ask Congress to toughen penalties. He also said the islanders have no legitimate right to self-determination; the British release reaffirmed that right.

At a press conference on 8 September, presidential spokesman Adrián Ravier said Decree 868 of 2026 made the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, International Trade and Worship the enforcement authority for the law. Anyone wishing to operate in Argentina’s hydrocarbon sector must now declare under oath that neither they nor anyone with a direct or indirect stake in their companies breaches it. Ravier said Foreign Minister Pablo Quirno had filed a criminal complaint the day before against companies working in the North Malvinas basin, and that sanctioned firms would be shut out of the RIGI tax incentive regime and from Vaca Muerta projects.

The Argentine news site Infobae reported on 4 September that the government had announced foreign ministry sanction proceedings against 45 individuals and companies, including Navitas and Rockhopper subsidiaries, their shareholders and suppliers such as Noble Corporation and Fugro. Kai Times could not verify the full list against an Argentine government document.

Effect on Sea Lion

On 5 October Rockhopper published a statement from Navitas saying that the Argentine government “continues its activity to impose sanctions on those involved in the Sea Lion Project”. Navitas said it was taking action to replace two contractors it described as breaching, and that it continued development with the full support of the Falkland Islands Government and the UK government. At that stage it expected no material adverse effect on the project. Rockhopper holds a 35% interest in licences in the North Falkland Basin, where the Sea Lion field was discovered in 2010.

Kai Times could not establish whether Argentina had responded to the British announcement.