On April 24, 2024, President Joe Biden signed the 21st Century Peace Through Strength Act (Act) into law. The Act, which is part of a broader law providing supplemental aid to Israel, Taiwan and Ukraine, contains several...more
6/3/2024
/ Anti-Money Laundering ,
Biden Administration ,
CFIUS ,
Economic Sanctions ,
EU ,
International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA) ,
International Trade ,
Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) ,
Russia ,
Statute of Limitations ,
TWEA ,
UK
The U.S. Treasury Department’s Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) has recently taken steps to expand the reach of the Bank Secrecy Act (BSA) and related customer identification regulations. These steps build on...more
5/30/2024
/ AML/CFT ,
Anti-Money Laundering ,
Bank Secrecy Act ,
Banking Sector ,
Beneficial Owner ,
CFIUS ,
Customer Identification Program (CIP) ,
Financial Institutions ,
FinCEN ,
Policies and Procedures ,
Proposed Rules ,
Regulatory Requirements ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC)
On May 14, 2024, President Joe Biden announced that he had directed the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative (USTR) to add or increase tariffs on a range of goods originating from China, including electric vehicles (EVs),...more
5/15/2024
/ Batteries ,
Biden Administration ,
Charging Stations ,
China ,
Electric Vehicles ,
International Trade ,
National Security ,
Section 301 ,
Supply Chain ,
Tariffs ,
Trump Administration ,
US Trade Policies ,
USTR
On October 18, 2023, following the signing of an electoral roadmap between Venezuela’s Unitary Platform and representatives of the Maduro regime, the U.S. Department of the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC)...more
On December 5, 2022, the price cap on Russian crude oil that was announced by the G-7 finance ministers in September 2022 went into effect at a level of $60 per barrel. The price cap is implemented by prohibiting the...more
On September 16, 2022, the U.S. Department of the Treasury and Department of Justice released four much-anticipated reports on different aspects of cryptoasset regulation. They confirm the Biden administration’s broad but...more
9/29/2022
/ Biden Administration ,
Blockchain ,
Criminal Investigations ,
Cryptocurrency ,
Decentralized Finance (DeFi) ,
Department of Justice (DOJ) ,
Digital Assets ,
Enforcement Actions ,
Financial Regulatory Agencies ,
Non-Fungible Tokens (NFTs) ,
Popular ,
U.S. Treasury
A flurry of legal and enforcement activity has arisen over the last two weeks across a wide range of areas in the Web3 space, including actions by the Securities and Exchange Commission, the Office of Foreign Assets Control,...more
8/25/2022
/ Bitcoin ,
Blockchain ,
CFTC ,
Cryptocurrency ,
Digital Assets ,
Digital Currency ,
Distributed Ledger Technology (DLT) ,
FDIC ,
Federal Trade Commission (FTC) ,
Financial Markets ,
FinTech ,
OCC ,
Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) ,
Popular ,
Regulatory Oversight ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
Smart Contracts ,
Virtual Currency
Recent guidance from the New York State Department of Financial Services (DFS) and a proposed bill in the U.S. Senate portend more regulatory and legislative activity to clarify the status of and requirements for stablecoin...more
Since the publication of our March 24, 2022, and March 17, 2022, client alerts, the U.S., U.K. and European Union, among other allied nations, have imposed additional sanctions and export controls on key elements of the...more
5/2/2022
/ Blocking Sanctions ,
Economic Sanctions ,
EU ,
European Commission ,
Export Controls ,
Exports ,
Financial Institutions ,
Foreign Policy ,
Foreign Relations ,
General Licenses ,
Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) ,
Popular ,
Russia ,
UK
On April 6, 2022, Sen. Pat Toomey (R-Pa.), the ranking member of the Senate Banking Committee, and an advocate for clarity in cryptocurrency regulations, released a discussion draft of legislation that would provide a...more
On March 11, 2022, President Joe Biden signed Executive Order 14068 (E.O. 14068) imposing new restrictions on imports and exports with respect to Russia as well as on the supply of U.S. dollar-denominated banknotes to the...more
3/22/2022
/ Bank Notes ,
Banks ,
Biden Administration ,
Economic Sanctions ,
Executive Orders ,
Export Controls ,
Exports ,
Financial Institutions ,
Luxury Goods ,
Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) ,
Russia ,
Ukraine
On January 7, 2021, the original 15-day comment period ended for a proposed rule announced by the U.S. Department of the Treasury's Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) that would impose new reporting, recordkeeping...more
On January 1, 2021, the United States Congress overrode the president’s veto to enact the 2021 National Defense Authorization Act (the NDAA), which, aside from allocating the annual defense budget, includes the Anti-Money...more
On November 12, 2020, President Trump signed Executive Order 13959 prohibiting U.S. persons from engaging in any transaction in publicly traded securities in “Communist Chinese military companies” (CCMCs), effective January...more
11/18/2020
/ Biden Administration ,
China ,
Department of Defense (DOD) ,
Executive Orders ,
Foreign Relations ,
National Security ,
NDAA ,
Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) ,
Publicly-Traded Companies ,
Securities Transactions ,
Trump Administration
The Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act, or the CARES Act, which was signed into law on March 27, 2020, provided for the establishment and expansion of a range of economic assistance programs designed to help...more
5/15/2020
/ Banks ,
CARES Act ,
Congressional Oversight ,
Coronavirus/COVID-19 ,
Criminal Investigations ,
Criminal Penalties ,
Department of Justice (DOJ) ,
Enforcement Actions ,
False Claims Act (FCA) ,
False Statements ,
Financial Regulatory Agencies ,
Financial Stimulus ,
Fraud ,
GAO ,
Government Investigations ,
Inspector General ,
Law Enforcement ,
Lenders ,
Loan Forgiveness ,
Pandemic Response Accountability Committee (PRAC) ,
Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) ,
Regulatory Oversight ,
Risk Management ,
SBA ,
SIGPR
In 2018, the United States continued to expand its sanctions programs and increase enforcement. While President Donald Trump’s decision to re-impose nuclear-related sanctions on Iran has perhaps drawn the most attention, key...more
1/23/2019
/ Blocked Entities ,
Blocked Person ,
Cryptocurrency ,
Cuba ,
Economic Sanctions ,
Executive Orders ,
Foreign Policy ,
General Licenses ,
Iran ,
Iran Sanctions ,
Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) ,
Nicaragua ,
Nuclear Power ,
Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) ,
Russia ,
Sanction Violations ,
SDN List ,
Secondary Sanctions ,
Trump Administration ,
Venezuela ,
Withdrawal
On May 8, 2018, President Donald Trump announced that the United States was withdrawing from its participation in the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), the agreement the P5+1 (the United States, China, France,...more
5/15/2018
/ Economic Sanctions ,
EU ,
General Licenses ,
Iran Sanctions ,
Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) ,
New Guidance ,
Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) ,
Oil & Gas ,
Presidential Memorandum ,
Rescission ,
SDN List ,
Secondary Sanctions ,
Trump Administration ,
Winding Down
On November 8, 2017, the U.S. Department of the Treasury's Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC), the U.S. Department of Commerce's Bureau of Industry and Security (BIS), and the U.S. Department of State announced...more
11/30/2017
/ Bureau of Industry and Security (BIS) ,
Business Travel ,
Cuba ,
Cuba Restricted List ,
Cuban Assets Control Regulations (CACR) ,
Export Administration Regulations (EAR) ,
Exports ,
General Licenses ,
Obama Administration ,
Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) ,
Travel Restrictions ,
Trump Administration
On August 25, 2017, the U.S. government dramatically increased sanctions on the government of Venezuela. Unlike the Venezuela-related sanctions already in effect, which are list-based and to date have targeted only specific...more
8/31/2017
/ Blocked Person ,
Bonds ,
Capital Markets ,
Citgo ,
Debt-Equity ,
Dividends ,
Economic Sanctions ,
Executive Orders ,
General Licenses ,
Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) ,
SDN List ,
Securities Transactions ,
State-Owned Enterprises ,
Trump Administration ,
Venezuela
After nearly two decades, the United States has formally ended economic sanctions on Burma (Myanmar). Citing substantial efforts undertaken to promote democracy, President Barack Obama issued an executive order, on October 7,...more
10/15/2016
/ Anti-Money Laundering ,
Barack Obama ,
Burma ,
Economic Sanctions ,
Executive Orders ,
Financial Transactions ,
FinCEN ,
Foreign Investment ,
Imports ,
Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) ,
Patriot Act ,
SDN List ,
US Department of State
In response to Burma’s peaceful and competitive elections in November 2015, on May 18, 2016, the Department of the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) further eased U.S. sanctions against Burma (Myanmar). These...more
5/24/2016
/ Burma ,
Economic Sanctions ,
Exports ,
Financial Institutions ,
Foreign Investment ,
General Licenses ,
Myanmar ,
Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) ,
Popular ,
SDN List ,
State-Owned Enterprises
On January 27, 2016, the Department of the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) and the Department of Commerce’s Bureau of Industry and Security (BIS) further eased U.S. sanctions and export control regulations...more
While economic sanctions against Iran, Russia and Cuba have dominated the headlines over the past year, sanctions remain a dynamic component of U.S. foreign policy on other fronts. In 2015, President Barack Obama issued three...more
1/23/2016
/ Burundi ,
Cross-Border Transactions ,
Cuba ,
Cyber Attacks ,
Economic Sanctions ,
Executive Orders ,
Foreign Financial Institutions (FFI) ,
Foreign Policy ,
Human Rights ,
Iran Sanctions ,
Obama Administration ,
Russia ,
Venezuela