Some of these sanctions regime, however, have been criticised for causing excessive suffering to civilian populations or inflicting economic damage on third states. To address these concerns, the concept of “targeted sanctions” was developed. These sanctions are designed to focus on groups of persons responsible for the breaches of peace or threats to international peace and security.
The Financial Action Task Force (FATF) as the global standard setter on AML/CFT, has also made it mandatory for countries to implement the targeted financial sanctions regimes to comply with the United Nations Security Council resolutions relating to the prevention and suppression of terrorism and terrorist financing as well as the prevention, suppression and disruption of proliferation of Weapon of Mass Destruction and its financing.