On February 22, 2024, Frankfurt won the joint vote to host EU’s central enforcer in the fight against financial crime. The new Authority for Anti-Money Laundering and Countering the Financing of Terrorism (“AMLA”) will...more
The UK government has issued an updated Open General Export Licence for the Export of Dual-Use items to EU Member States (which also previously covered exports to Iceland and the Channel Islands) (the “OGEL”) to allow export...more
The UK has expanded its export controls regime to include a number of key emerging technologies, including in relation to semiconductors and quantum technology. These changes take effect on 1 April 2024, following which an...more
The highly anticipated EU Artificial Intelligence Act is finally here! With extra-territorial reach and wide-reaching ramifications for providers, deployers, and users of Artificial Intelligence (“AI”), the Artificial...more
3/15/2024
/ Artificial Intelligence ,
Copyright ,
Data Mining ,
Data Protection ,
Data Protection Impact Assessments (DPIAs) ,
Enforcement ,
EU ,
European Parliament ,
General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) ,
Governance Standards ,
Innovative Technology ,
Machine Learning ,
National Security ,
OECD ,
Technology Sector
In 2023, the European Union continued to use economic sanctions as one of its foreign policy tools, and not only in response to Russia’s war in Ukraine. New sanctions and adjustments to existing regimes reflect the EU’s...more
3/7/2024
/ China ,
Corporate Counsel ,
Economic Sanctions ,
Enforcement ,
EU ,
Human Rights ,
Iran ,
Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) ,
Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) ,
Russia ,
Terrorist Acts ,
UN Security Council
Building on the European Security Strategy of June 2023, the European Commission on January 24, 2024, adopted a package of five initiatives aiming to enhance the EU’s economic security. The package contains a far-reaching...more
2/7/2024
/ EU ,
European Commission ,
European Court of Justice (ECJ) ,
Export Controls ,
Foreign Direct Investment ,
Foreign Investment ,
Greenfield Projects ,
Harmonization Rules ,
Investment ,
Member State ,
OECD
M&A activity in 2023 was subdued, as dealmakers grappled with geopolitical tensions, inflation, rising interest rates, and increasing regulatory scrutiny, against a backdrop of general economic uncertainty. Challenges in the...more
1/4/2024
/ Antitrust Division ,
Artificial Intelligence ,
Big Tech ,
California Consumer Privacy Act (CCPA) ,
CFIUS ,
Data Security ,
Economic Sanctions ,
EU ,
Export Controls ,
Foreign Investment ,
Foreign Subsidies ,
Hart-Scott-Rodino Act ,
Horizontal Mergers ,
National Security ,
Popular ,
Shareholder Activism ,
State Administration for Market Regulation (SAMR) ,
UK ,
Vertical Mergers
The obligation under the EU Foreign Subsidies Regulation (FSR)[1] to report M&A transactions involving parties which have benefited from foreign financial contributions enters into force today. This creates an additional...more
As Russia’s war in Ukraine passes the one-year mark, and the battles on the ground move forward with escalating levels of ferocity, governments around the world continue to coordinate and respond with increasingly severe...more
3/3/2023
/ Asset Freeze ,
Bureau of Industry and Security (BIS) ,
Central Bank of Russia ,
Economic Sanctions ,
EU ,
Export Controls ,
Office of Financial Sanctions Implementation (OFSI) ,
Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) ,
Popular ,
Russia ,
UK ,
Ukraine
Recent developments in the European Union (EU) as well as political demands indicate that the criminal prosecution of sanctions violations in the EU will be further intensified and possibly even centralized:...more
Jüngere Entwicklungen in der Europäischen Union („EU“) sowie politische Forderungen deuten darauf hin, dass die strafrechtliche Verfolgung von Sanktionsverstößen in der EU weiter intensiviert und gegebenenfalls sogar...more
On November 28, 2022, the Council of the European Union adopted the Foreign Subsidies Regulation (FSR or the “Regulation”), a new legislative tool designed to prevent foreign subsidies from distorting competition in the...more
1/16/2023
/ Balancing Test ,
Competition ,
EU Merger Directive ,
European Commission ,
Foreign Investment ,
Foreign Subsidies ,
Investigations ,
Member State ,
Notification Requirements ,
Turnover Laws ,
Value-Added Tax (VAT)
As Russia’s war in Ukraine stretches into its tenth month, governments around the world continue to coordinate and respond with increasingly severe sanctions and export controls....more
12/7/2022
/ Crude Oil ,
Economic Sanctions ,
EU ,
Export Controls ,
Office of Financial Sanctions Implementation (OFSI) ,
Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) ,
Oil & Gas ,
Oil Prices ,
Reporting Requirements ,
Russia ,
UK ,
Ukraine
As Russia’s bloody invasion of Ukraine nears the end of its second month, with regular reports of human rights violations, possible chemical weapons attacks, and head of state musings regarding whether this campaign amounts...more
4/18/2022
/ Bureau of Industry and Security (BIS) ,
Economic Sanctions ,
EU ,
Export Controls ,
Financial Markets ,
Foreign Relations ,
Japan ,
Most-Favored Nations ,
Office of Financial Sanctions Implementation (OFSI) ,
Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) ,
Popular ,
Russia ,
Trade Relations ,
UK ,
Ukraine
As Russia’s brutal invasion of Ukraine stretches on into its second month, the United States, European Union, United Kingdom, and other global allies have continued to pour additional funding and arms into Ukraine while...more
3/23/2022
/ Bureau of Industry and Security (BIS) ,
Economic Sanctions ,
EU ,
Export Controls ,
Funding ,
Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) ,
Russia ,
SWIFT ,
UK ,
Ukraine ,
US Department of State
After less than a week of a full-scale war between Russia and Ukraine, the post-Cold War global architecture appears irrevocably shattered, as Western nations line up to offer support and military and economic aid to Ukraine...more
3/1/2022
/ Airspace ,
Asset Freeze ,
Economic Sanctions ,
EU ,
Export Administration Regulations (EAR) ,
Export Controls ,
G7 ,
Popular ,
Russia ,
SWIFT ,
UK ,
Ukraine ,
United States
Back in July, we took a look at the enforcement actions for the first half of 2021 issued by the U.S. Department of the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC). Today’s post – the second half of our OFAC 2021 Year...more
2/9/2022
/ Cloud Storage ,
Corporate Counsel ,
Digital Currency ,
Foreign Exchanges ,
Foreign Subsidiaries ,
Geolocation ,
Know Your Customers ,
Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) ,
Popular ,
Sanctions ,
SDN List ,
U.S. Treasury ,
UK ,
Virtual Currency
2021 was a year of transition in the United States and for the U.S. Department of the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC). OFAC’s year, while busy, was far different from 2020, as the Biden Administration’s...more
2/8/2022
/ Biden Administration ,
Burma ,
China ,
Corporate Counsel ,
Economic Sanctions ,
Forced Labor ,
Hong Kong ,
Hong Kong Autonomy Act (HKAA) ,
Iran ,
NDAA ,
NGOs ,
Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) ,
Popular ,
Russia ,
SDN List ,
U.S. Treasury
In a closely followed and much anticipated action, President Biden signed the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2022 (NDAA) on December 27, 2021 – following its approval by the U.S. Senate and House of...more
On October 18, 2021, the U.S. Department of the Treasury (“Treasury”) released its 2021 Sanctions Review (“Sanctions Review” or the “Review”), which includes recommendations for preserving the effectiveness of sanctions...more
In the latest turn of events in the seemingly never-ending political saga of the Nord Stream 2 pipeline, the U.S. House of Representatives (the “House”), via an amendment to the 2022 National Defense Authorization Act...more
10/7/2021
/ CAATSA ,
Foreign Entities ,
Germany ,
Joe Biden ,
National Interest Waiver ,
NDAA ,
Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) ,
Pipelines ,
Russia ,
Sanctions ,
Trump Administration ,
US State Departments
As peak summer holiday season approaches, the U.S. Department of the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (“OFAC”) continues to remind the private sector of the importance of strict economic sanctions compliance. OFAC...more
7/15/2021
/ Corporate Counsel ,
Department of Justice (DOJ) ,
Digital Currency ,
Economic Sanctions ,
Enforcement Actions ,
Foreign Exchanges ,
ITSR ,
Moneygram ,
Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) ,
Popular ,
U.S. Treasury
The legal and political skirmishing continued on both sides of the Atlantic in recent weeks over Nord Stream 2, the nearly finished Russian natural gas pipeline that continues to serve as a flash point within Europe and...more
On April 29, 2021, the U.S. Department of Justice’s National Security Division and the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Massachusetts (collectively, “DOJ”) announced that DOJ entered into a precedent-setting...more
As we previously wrote in our OFAC 2020 Year in Review, the U.S. Treasury Department’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (“OFAC”) saw a drop in enforcement activity in 2020, likely due to the massive year it had in 2019 and...more
2/18/2021
/ Audits ,
Citizenship ,
Compliance ,
Corporate Counsel ,
Enforcement Actions ,
Foreign Subsidiaries ,
Information Technology ,
Licenses ,
Nexus ,
Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) ,
Remediation ,
Sanctions