The United States Department of Commerce’s Bureau of Industry and Security has issued regulations to amend the Export Administration Regulations to implement changes to controls of certain viruses, marine toxins, plant...more
On 2 December 2022, the US Department of the Treasury issued a press release announcing a $60/barrel price cap that will apply to the prohibition on US persons from engaging in a broad range of services related to the...more
The U.S. Department of the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control published a Determination pursuant to Executive Order 14071 that implements the price cap policy for crude oil of Russian Federation origin. To complement...more
The United States government is increasingly scrutinizing U.S. industry’s reliance on China for biotechnology research and development and manufacturing, and is taking steps to expand export control requirements on China that...more
10/24/2022
/ Biotechnology ,
Bureau of Industry and Security (BIS) ,
CFIUS ,
Executive Orders ,
Export Control Reform Act (ECRA) ,
Export Controls ,
FIRRMA ,
National Security ,
Popular ,
Research and Development ,
Technology Sector
The Department of Commerce’s Bureau of Industry and Security has issued an interim final rule to deny China’s access to certain semiconductor and advanced computing technology and to inhibit China’s ability to manufacture...more
The U.S. is one of the easiest jurisdictions in the world in which to do business. Regulatory barriers are generally low, establishing a branch or business entity is quick and easy, labor and employment laws are much more...more
9/21/2022
/ Anti-Money Laundering ,
Business Formation ,
Capital Markets ,
CFIUS ,
Choice of Entity ,
Corporate Governance ,
Directorate of Defense Trade Controls (DDTC) ,
Doing Business ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Environmental Social & Governance (ESG) ,
Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA) ,
Foreign Investment ,
Intellectual Property Protection ,
ITAR ,
Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC)
On 9 September 2022, the U.S. Department of the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) published “Preliminary Guidance on Implementation of a Maritime Services Policy and Related Price Exception for Seaborne...more
The U.S. Government has imposed additional punitive measures against Russia in response to Russia’s actions in Ukraine. The new measures include a prohibition on imports of Russian gold into the United States, new SDN and...more
7/5/2022
/ Blocking Sanctions ,
Bureau of Industry and Security (BIS) ,
Economic Sanctions ,
Export Controls ,
FinCEN ,
Foreign Policy ,
Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) ,
Russia ,
SDN List ,
State-Owned Enterprises ,
Supply Chain ,
Ukraine
On 2 June 2022, the U.S. Commerce Department’s Bureau of Industry and Security (“BIS”) issued two final rules, effective on the same day, that revised the Export Administration Regulations (“EAR”) pertaining to the U.S.’s...more
The Office of Foreign Assets Control (“OFAC”) issued General License (“GL”) No. 22 on May 12, 2022, authorizing transactions that are ordinarily incident and necessary to activities that occur in specified, non-regime held...more
The U.S. Bureau of Industry and Security (“BIS”) has expanded export controls relating to Russia. The final rule imposes license requirements for exports, reexports and transfers to/within Russia on several items with...more
On February 24, 2022, the US Government imposed severe economic sanctions and export controls on Russia. The restrictions consist of two parts: 1) significant financial sanctions on a range of Russian financial institutions...more
The Court of Justice of the EU has interpreted for the first time the Blocking Regulation. The ruling confirms that it is possible to terminate contracts with a US designated person without providing reasons. However, in...more
On December 23, 2021, President Joe Biden signed into law the Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act (“UFLPA”). Most notably, the UFLPA strengthens the enforcement of Section 307 of the Tariff Act of 1930 by imposing a rebuttable...more
1/7/2022
/ Biden Administration ,
Child Labor ,
Corporate Social Responsibility ,
Customs and Border Protection ,
Export Controls ,
Forced Labor ,
Goods or Services ,
Human Rights ,
Imports ,
New Legislation ,
Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) ,
Supply Chain
The release of data to a foreign person, even within U.S. borders, is deemed by U.S. export control laws to be an export to the recipient's country of permanent residency or citizenship. The delivery of U.S. export-controlled...more
Following its efforts in recent years to enforce the Foreign Agents Registration Act of 1938 (22 U.S.C. 611 et seq. (FARA)) more rigorously and transparently, for the first time in nearly 15 years, the U.S. Department of...more
The decision to pay millions to a cyber criminal has never been easy, but it is now even more complex. The U.S. Department of Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) issued an updated advisory on September 21,...more
On 15 April 2021, the U.S. Government announced a number of new sanctions measures against Russia, targeting a variety of “harmful foreign activities” contrary to U.S. foreign policy. ...more
4/21/2021
/ Biden Administration ,
Crimea ,
Critical Infrastructure Sectors ,
Defense Sector ,
Economic Sanctions ,
Executive Orders ,
Financial Institutions ,
Foreign Policy ,
Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) ,
Russia ,
SDN List ,
SolarWinds ,
Sovereign Debt ,
State-Owned Enterprises ,
Technology Contracts
The U.S. is one of the easiest jurisdictions in the world in which to do business1 . 1 Regulatory barriers are generally low, establishing a branch or business entity is quick and easy, labor and employment laws are much...more
The Cuban Assets Control Regulations have been amended to prohibit U.S. persons from lodging at certain properties in Cuba, incorporate restrictions on imports of Cuban alcohol and tobacco, and revoke general licenses...more
On 24 September 2020, the U.S. Department of Treasury's Office of Foreign Asset Control (OFAC) announced a settlement with Keysight Technologies, Inc. (Keysight) for sanctions violations committed by its former subsidiary,...more
10/7/2020
/ Corruption ,
Country of Origin ,
Economic Sanctions ,
Enforcement Actions ,
Export Controls ,
General Licenses ,
Goods or Services ,
Iran Sanctions ,
ITSR ,
Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) ,
Popular ,
Sanction Violations
In response to the significant rise in ransomware attacks since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic and just in time for Cybersecurity Awareness Month, the Department of the Treasury’s Financial Crimes Enforcement Network...more
10/6/2020
/ AML/CFT ,
BSA/AML ,
Cyber Crimes ,
Cyber Insurance ,
Cybersecurity ,
Economic Sanctions ,
Financial Institutions ,
Financial Transactions ,
FinCEN ,
Money Services Business ,
National Security ,
Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) ,
Popular ,
Privacy Concerns ,
Ransomware ,
Suspicious Activity Reports (SARs)
Beset by ongoing tariff wars, Brexit fallout, heightened sanctions, and other geopolitical tumult, global value chains now face a deeply uncertain trade environment....more
On 14 July, the same day the president signed into law the Hong Kong Autonomy Act (the act), President Trump issued the Executive Order on Hong Kong Normalization (the EO) directing federal agencies to impose a range of trade...more
On 29 June 2020, the final rule expanding the military end user/user controls (MEU) issued by the Bureau of Industry and Security (BIS) went into effect. On 26 June 2020, BIS issued an FAQs guidance document that provides...more