On March 14, 2025, the U.S. Department of the Treasury’s Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) issued a Geographic Targeting Order (GTO) in the Federal Register that will impose new obligations on many money services...more
3/20/2025
/ Anti-Money Laundering ,
Compliance ,
Federal Register ,
Financial Services Industry ,
FinCEN ,
Geographic Targeting Order ,
Money Services Business ,
Regulatory Requirements ,
Reporting Requirements ,
Risk Management ,
Suspicious Activity Reports (SARs)
Between March 4, 2025, and March 6, 2025, U.S. trade policy in North America changed course multiple times as the Trump administration initially implemented previously paused tariffs on imports from Canada and Mexico, and two...more
3/11/2025
/ Canada ,
China ,
Duties ,
Imports ,
International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA) ,
International Trade ,
Mexico ,
Retaliation ,
Tariffs ,
Trade Policy ,
Trade Wars ,
Trump Administration ,
United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA) ,
US Trade Policies ,
USTR
After months of anticipation, on February 1, 2025, President Trump announced the imposition of significant tariffs on Mexico, Canada, and China through three Executive Orders (EOs). While additional details are expected to be...more
2/2/2025
/ Canada ,
China ,
Imports ,
International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA) ,
Mexico ,
National Security ,
Supply Chain ,
Tariffs ,
Trade Relations ,
Trump Administration ,
US Trade Policies ,
WTO
On January 13, 2025, the U.S. Department of Commerce’s Bureau of Industry and Security (BIS) issued an Interim Final Rule (IFR), establishing new export controls targeting advanced artificial intelligence (AI) chips and model...more
1/24/2025
/ Artificial Intelligence ,
Bureau of Industry and Security (BIS) ,
Data Centers ,
Data Security ,
Export Administration Regulations (EAR) ,
Export Controls ,
Intellectual Property Protection ,
Machine Learning ,
National Security ,
Regulatory Requirements ,
Technology Sector
Earlier this week, the U.S. Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) and the UK Office of Financial Sanctions Implementation (OFSI) published a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU), which was previously signed on October 9, 2024,...more
Broad Tariff Increases Could Reshape Global Trade: The aggressive use of tariffs could create significant trade disruptions for businesses dependent on global supply chains, and pair novel use of authorities with existing...more
11/25/2024
/ Artificial Intelligence ,
CFIUS ,
China ,
Cuba ,
Dual Use Goods ,
Economic Sanctions ,
Export Controls ,
FIRRMA ,
Forced Labor ,
Foreign Investment ,
International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA) ,
International Trade ,
Iran ,
Jurisdiction ,
Middle East ,
Popular ,
Russia ,
Section 301 ,
Semiconductors ,
Supply Chain ,
Tariffs ,
Trade Act of 1974 ,
Trade Expansion Act of 1962 ,
United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA) ,
USTR ,
Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act (UFLPA) ,
Venezuela
On September 23, 2024, the Department of Commerce’s Bureau of Industry and Security (BIS) released for public inspection a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking that seeks to prohibit the sale or import of connected vehicles (CVs)...more
On May 14, 2024, the U.S. Trade Representative (“USTR”) published the Four-Year Review of Actions Taken in the Section 301 Investigation (“Report”), which addresses the four-year review of China-related tariffs under Section...more
On April 11, 2024, the U.S. Department of the Treasury (Treasury), as Chair of the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States (CFIUS), issued a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (NPRM), which is the first substantive...more
The U.S. Department of Commerce amended the Export Administration Regulations (EAR), effective March 15, 2024, to move Nicaragua from Country Group B to Country Group D, and added it to the list of countries subject to the...more
New Tri-Seal Compliance Note highlights sanctions and export control compliance expectations for non-U.S. persons.
Three agencies overseeing U.S. trade law compliance provided an overview of where U.S. sanctions and export...more
3/27/2024
/ Compliance ,
Department of Justice (DOJ) ,
Economic Sanctions ,
Enforcement ,
Enforcement Actions ,
Export Administration Regulations (EAR) ,
Export Controls ,
Financial Transactions ,
Foreign Corporations ,
Foreign Direct Product Rule ,
Foreign Jurisdictions ,
Know Your Customers ,
Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) ,
Popular ,
Risk Assessment ,
Risk Mitigation ,
Trade Relations ,
U.S. Commerce Department ,
U.S. Treasury
FinCEN is focused on customer due diligence, and both the 2024 Investment Adviser Risk Assessment and proposed rule indicate that investment advisers will be expected to assess customer identity, business model, and sources...more
3/15/2024
/ AML/CFT ,
Anti-Corruption ,
Anti-Money Laundering ,
Bank Secrecy Act ,
Beneficial Owner ,
CDD ,
CFIUS ,
China ,
Customer Identification Program (CIP) ,
Due Diligence ,
Exempt Reporting Advisers (ERAs) ,
Financial Institutions ,
FinCEN ,
Infrastructure ,
Investment Adviser ,
Investment Advisers Act of 1940 ,
Investors ,
No-Action Letters ,
Popular ,
Private Funds ,
Proposed Rules ,
Risk Assessment ,
Russia ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
SIFMA ,
Suspicious Activity Reports (SARs) ,
Technology Sector
On January 17, 2024, the U.S. Department of State announced the redesignation of the Yemen-based Ansarallah (commonly referred to as the “Houthis”) as a Specially Designated Global Terrorist organization (SDGT). The decision...more
On November 6, 2023, the U.S. Department of Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) announced a $206,213 settlement with Swift Prepaid Solutions, Inc. d/b/a daVinci Payments (daVinci) for apparent violations of...more
Following the October 7 attack on Israel by Hamas, the Treasury Department’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) has undertaken several initial sanctions steps to counter terrorist financing and call attention to...more
How should companies think about DOJ, BIS and OFAC voluntary disclosure in the wake of the DOJ’s massive investment in sanctions and export control enforcement?
The DOJ, BIS and OFAC released a joint compliance note...more
8/4/2023
/ Bureau of Industry and Security (BIS) ,
Department of Justice (DOJ) ,
Economic Sanctions ,
Embargo ,
Enforcement ,
Export Controls ,
FinCEN ,
Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA) ,
National Security ,
Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) ,
Popular ,
Self-Disclosure Requirements ,
White-Collar Exemptions
In a new enforcement action against GM, the Department of Justice (DOJ) Civil Rights Division emphasizes that employers subject to export control obligations must still comply with federal laws against discrimination on the...more
5/23/2023
/ Anti-Discrimination Policies ,
Civil Monetary Penalty ,
Civil Rights Act ,
Compliance ,
Department of Energy (DOE) ,
Department of Justice (DOJ) ,
E-Verify ,
Employment Eligibility Verification ,
Enforcement Actions ,
Export Administration Regulations (EAR) ,
Export Controls ,
Form I-9 ,
Immigration and Nationality Act ,
Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) ,
Reporting Requirements ,
Title VII
The proposed rule tightens restrictions on activities by “affiliates” and clarifies scope of statutory clawbacks.
The Department of Commerce released a proposed rule imposing guardrails preventing the “improper use of...more
4/3/2023
/ China ,
Clawbacks ,
FCC ,
Foreign Entities ,
Investment ,
Manufacturers ,
National Security ,
Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (NOPR) ,
Proposed Rules ,
Semiconductors ,
U.S. Commerce Department
Can a new Department of Justice enforcement approach make clawback policies covering criminal activities a best practice?
The DOJ is implementing a new policy under which prosecutors will make clawback policies for...more
3/8/2023
/ Clawbacks ,
Compensation ,
Corporate Misconduct ,
Department of Justice (DOJ) ,
Dodd-Frank ,
Enforcement ,
Incentives ,
Risk Management ,
Sarbanes-Oxley ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
White Collar Crimes
Complying with directives from Main Justice, the USAOs have announced a new policy designed to incentivize voluntary self-disclosure of corporate misconduct.
To receive credit for self-disclosure, disclosures must be...more
This post marks the third entry in our Year-in-Review series. For prior posts, click here. Many of the first measures that the United States, European Union and United Kingdom collectively took against Russia in 2022 related...more
This post marks the second entry in our Year-in-Review series. For prior posts, click here. Few sectors have been more affected by the sanctions on Russia than the energy industry....more
On February 24, 2022, the United States (U.S.), European Union (EU), United Kingdom (UK), and other countries issued a barrage of sanctions against the Russian financial sector, cutting off many major banks from the global...more
On December 5, 2022, the U.S. Department of Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (“OFAC”) announced a $60 per barrel price cap on maritime transfers of Russian-origin crude oil. The final cap level is being implemented...more
Various reports indicate that the Group of Seven nations (G7) will announce its initial capped price for Russian-origin crude oil transported by maritime means (“seaborne”) this week. The cap will come into effect on December...more