On December 28, 2020, the Department of the Treasury Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) published awaited guidance on the implementation of Executive Order (EO) 13959, “Executive Order on Addressing the Threat from...more
On August 6, 2020, President Trump issued two nearly parallel executive orders (EOs) targeting the enormously popular apps TikTok and WeChat: Executive Order on Addressing the Threat Posed by TikTok (TikTok EO), and Executive...more
The US government has established new authorities to impose sanctions in response to China’s national security law for Hong Kong, increasing the compliance risks for international banks and other companies that do business in...more
On August 5, 2019, President Donald Trump signed Executive Order 13884, Executive Order Blocking Property of the Government of Venezuela (EO 13884). EO 13884 is designed to further increase pressure on the Nicolás Maduro...more
8/7/2019
/ Blocked Person ,
Citgo ,
Economic Sanctions ,
Executive Orders ,
Financial Institutions ,
Foreign Policy ,
General Licenses ,
Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) ,
Petroleum ,
Trump Administration ,
U.S. Treasury ,
Venezuela
Bank Secrecy Act/anti-money laundering (BSA/AML) and sanctions matters continue to be a core focus of regulators, law enforcement agencies, policymakers and Congress, and the story of the Obama and Trump Administrations on...more
7/29/2019
/ Anti-Money Laundering ,
BSA/AML ,
Cuba ,
Customer Due Diligence (CDD) ,
Drug Trafficking ,
Economic Sanctions ,
Enforcement Actions ,
FinCEN ,
Human Trafficking ,
Iran ,
Magnitsky Act ,
Nicaragua ,
North Korea ,
Russia ,
Sudan ,
Trump Administration ,
Venezuela ,
Virtual Currency
On May 15, 2019, President Trump issued an Executive Order (EO) declaring a national emergency and paving the way for a ban on the use of Huawei equipment and services in U.S. telecommunication networks. On the same day, the...more
5/17/2019
/ Bureau of Industry and Security (BIS) ,
China ,
Executive Orders ,
Exports ,
General Licenses ,
Imports ,
National Security ,
Savings Clause ,
Supply Chain ,
Telecommunications ,
Trade Relations ,
Trump Administration ,
U.S. Commerce Department ,
US Trade Policies
Yesterday, the US Department of the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) designated Petróleos de Venezuela, S.A. (PdVSA) pursuant to Executive Order 13850, adding the state-owned Venezuelan oil company to its...more
On November 5, 2018, the United States took steps to complete the U.S. withdrawal from the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (“JCPOA”), under which the United States – along with its partners in the P5+1 – had previously...more
11/9/2018
/ Blocked Entities ,
Economic Sanctions ,
EU ,
Executive Orders ,
Financial Institutions ,
General Licenses ,
Iran ,
Iran Sanctions ,
Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) ,
Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) ,
P5+1 Nations ,
SDN List ,
Trump Administration ,
UN Security Council
On Friday, May 18, the EU Commission launched the formal process to reactivate a 1996 trade defense law in response to the US withdrawal from the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) on Iran's nuclear program. Once...more
5/23/2018
/ Blocking Statutes ,
China ,
EU ,
European Commission ,
Foreign Relations ,
Iran ,
Iran Sanctions ,
Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) ,
Russia ,
Trade Relations ,
Trump Administration
President Trump has issued new Proclamations regarding Section 232 tariffs on steel and aluminum, amending the original Proclamations (9704 and 9705) issued on March 8. The most notable changes concern country-wide...more
This morning, the U.S. Department of Commerce Bureau of Industry and Security (BIS) issued an interim final rule establishing the process by which organizations may submit requests for exclusions from the 25% duties on steel...more
Yesterday President Trump signed two Proclamations that impose 25 and 10 percent tariffs on imports of certain steel and aluminum products, respectively, other than those imported from Canada and Mexico. The imposition of...more
President Trump stated on March 1 that his administration would impose a 25 percent tariff on steel imports and a 10 percent tariff on aluminum imports for an indefinite period. This was a preview of formal determinations...more
On December 20, 2017, President Trump issued a new Executive Order (EO) targeting corruption and human rights abuses around the world.
The EO implements last year's Global Magnitsky Human Rights Accountability Act (the...more
On November 9, 2017, the US Departments of the Treasury and Commerce implemented President Trump's June 2017 National Security Presidential Memorandum (NSPM) that was designed to tighten restrictions on individual travel to...more
Over the past several years, as North Korea has increased the capability of its nuclear and ballistic missile program, there has been a steady increase in sanctions pressure against North Korea by the United States and the...more
On August 24, 2017, the Trump Administration significantly expanded sanctions against the Government of Venezuela, including state-owned oil company Petroleos de Venezuela, S.A. (PdVSA). These latest sanctions reflect...more
On July 27, the US Senate passed the Countering America's Adversaries Through Sanctions Act (CAATSA), a comprehensive sanctions bill that expands US sanctions against three countries: Russia, Iran, and North Korea. The...more
On June 16, 2017, President Trump announced new sanctions restrictions under the US embargo against Cuba. Although US policy since 2014 has been to normalize US-Cuba relations and liberalize trade with Cuba, President Trump...more