On May 23, 2025, the Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) issued General License 25 (GL 25), authorizing transactions prohibited by the Syrian Sanctions Regulations, effectively lifting sanctions on Syria. This comes 10...more
5/30/2025
/ Banking Sector ,
Economic Sanctions ,
Energy Sector ,
EU ,
Foreign Policy ,
Investment ,
National Security ,
Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) ,
Oil & Gas ,
Syria ,
Trump Administration ,
UK
On January 10, 2025, the Biden Administration issued a broad sanctions package targeting the Russian energy sector, 10 days in advance of the transition to the incoming Trump Administration. The new sanctions also added two...more
1/14/2025
/ Biden Administration ,
Blocked Person ,
Department of Energy (DOE) ,
Economic Sanctions ,
Energy Sector ,
Enforcement Actions ,
Foreign Policy ,
General Licenses ,
Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) ,
Oil & Gas ,
Russia ,
U.S. Treasury ,
UK
Contemporaneous with the European Union’s adoption of its 13th package of Russia sanctions, on February 23, 2024, the United States imposed sanctions against nearly 500 targets in continued response to Russia’s aggression...more
2/27/2024
/ Biden Administration ,
Defense Sector ,
Economic Sanctions ,
Executive Orders ,
Federal Procurement Systems ,
Financial Institutions ,
Financial Transactions ,
FinTech ,
Foreign Policy ,
General Licenses ,
Military Conflict ,
Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) ,
Oil & Gas ,
Payment Systems ,
Russia ,
Russian Military Procurement ,
SDN List ,
Ukraine ,
US State Departments
In response to an agreement reached on Tuesday between President Nicolás Maduro’s representatives and the Venezuelan political opposition about a road map for the 2024 Venezuelan presidential election, on October 18, the...more
On May 19, 2023, the Biden Administration along with leaders of the Group of Seven (G7), unveiled a new package of sanctions. The G7 leaders released a joint statement reaffirming their commitment to offer “the financial,...more
6/6/2023
/ Biden Administration ,
Bureau of Industry and Security (BIS) ,
Defense Sector ,
Economic Sanctions ,
Energy Sector ,
Entity List ,
Evasion ,
Executive Orders ,
Export Controls ,
Foreign Policy ,
G7 ,
General Licenses ,
Military Conflict ,
Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) ,
Prohibited Transactions ,
Russia ,
SDN List ,
Third-Party ,
U.S. Commerce Department ,
Ukraine
In recognition of the one-year anniversary of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, the US Department of the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) and US Department of Commerce’s Bureau of Industry and Security (BIS)...more
3/6/2023
/ Biden Administration ,
Bureau of Industry and Security (BIS) ,
Economic Sanctions ,
Embargo ,
EU ,
Executive Orders ,
Export Administration Regulations (EAR) ,
Export Controls ,
Financial Transactions ,
Foreign Policy ,
Foreign Relations ,
Foreign Trade Regulations ,
General Licenses ,
Military Conflict ,
Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) ,
Oil Prices ,
Petroleum ,
Russia ,
SDN List ,
Switzerland ,
Ukraine
On February 5, 2023, the G7 announced that the “price cap” on western-backed seaborne trades of Russian-origin petroleum products to third countries would be set at $45 per barrel ($45/bbl) for Discount to Crude petroleum...more
2/27/2023
/ EU ,
Exports ,
G7 ,
Goods or Services ,
Imports ,
Maritime Transport ,
Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) ,
Oil & Gas ,
Oil Prices ,
Petroleum ,
Russia ,
Sanction Violations ,
Shipping ,
Suppliers ,
Supply Contracts ,
Ukraine
Oil price cap -
The oil price cap has been co-ordinated by the G7 in order to make EU, UK and US services (including (re)insurance) available to third country importers and exporters as long as the price paid for...more
12/12/2022
/ Asset Freeze ,
Belarus ,
Belarus Sanctions ,
Biden Administration ,
Crude Oil ,
Economic Sanctions ,
EU ,
Export Controls ,
Exports ,
G7 ,
General Licenses ,
Imports ,
Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) ,
Oil & Gas ,
Oil Prices ,
Russia ,
SDN List ,
Switzerland ,
Third Country Entities (TCEs) ,
UK ,
Ukraine
The Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) of the US Treasury Department has issued its eagerly awaited guidance on the mechanisms of its “maritime services” policy and “price cap exception” for the global transport of...more
Recently, the US Department of the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) has taken additional actions against Russia in response to its continued invasion of Ukraine. Specifically, OFAC:
..Issued guidance...more
10/31/2022
/ Asset Freeze ,
Belarus ,
Blocked Entities ,
Blocked Person ,
Economic Sanctions ,
EU ,
Export Controls ,
General Licenses ,
Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) ,
Russia ,
Switzerland ,
Trade Restrictions ,
UK ,
Ukraine
Over the past few weeks, the Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) of the US Department of the Treasury ramped up sanctions pressure against Russia with the announcement of a new ban on certain services in seaborne Russian...more
9/23/2022
/ Asset Freeze ,
Belarus ,
Belarus Sanctions ,
Blocked Entities ,
Blocked Person ,
Economic Sanctions ,
Export Controls ,
General Licenses ,
Office of Financial Sanctions Implementation (OFSI) ,
Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) ,
Oil & Gas ,
Russia ,
Ukraine
As a follow up to our alert of September 7th regarding the G7 proposal to implement a price cap with respect to seaborne Russian-origin crude oil and petroleum products, the Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC)...more
9/13/2022
/ Crude Oil ,
Economic Sanctions ,
Embargo ,
EU ,
Maritime Transport ,
Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) ,
Oil & Gas ,
Oil Prices ,
Recordkeeping Requirements ,
Russia ,
Safe Harbors ,
Shipping
On September 2, 2022, the G7 Finance Ministers issued a statement confirming their intention to implement a price cap with respect to Russian-origin crude oil and petroleum products in response to Russia’s continued invasion...more
9/8/2022
/ Crude Oil ,
Economic Sanctions ,
EU ,
G7 ,
Importers ,
Imports ,
Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) ,
Oil & Gas ,
Pipelines ,
Pricing ,
Russia ,
Ukraine
Over the past few weeks, the US Department of Treasury Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) took various actions in response to Russia’s continued invasion in Ukraine:
..updated the Specially Designated Nationals and...more
8/17/2022
/ Asset Freeze ,
Belarus ,
Belarus Sanctions ,
Blocked Entities ,
Blocked Person ,
Economic Sanctions ,
Entity List ,
Export Controls ,
General Licenses ,
Office of Financial Sanctions Implementation (OFSI) ,
Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) ,
Oil & Gas ,
Russia ,
SDN List ,
Ukraine
After reports of humanitarian atrocities and further details of the continued Russian aggression in Ukraine emerged over the weekend, the United States and its allies responded with further sanctions and export controls. “The...more
On March 7, 2022, the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) issued an alert calling on financial institutions to be “vigilant” in guarding against attempts to evade the recent imposition of expanded Russia sanctions....more
3/21/2022
/ Anti-Money Laundering ,
Compliance ,
Economic Sanctions ,
Financial Institutions ,
FinCEN ,
Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) ,
Reporting Requirements ,
Risk Management ,
Russia ,
Terrorist Financing Regulations ,
Virtual Currency
In the latest action to expand sanctions against Russia in response to its invasion of Ukraine, on March 8, 2022, President Biden announced in a televised speech a ban on imports of Russian oil, natural gas, and coal into the...more
3/11/2022
/ Biden Administration ,
Economic Sanctions ,
Executive Orders ,
Foreign Relations ,
General Licenses ,
Imports ,
Magnitsky Act ,
Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) ,
Oil & Gas ,
Russia ,
Tariffs ,
WTO
The US Department of the Treasury (Treasury) has released the results of its review of economic and financial sanctions first announced in December 2020 by then President-elect Biden (Report). From that review, Treasury has...more
On September 21, 2021, the US Department of the Treasury took actions in response to the increasing prevalence and severity of ransomware attacks in the United States and address the central role that virtual currency and...more
9/27/2021
/ Currency Exchange ,
Cybersecurity ,
Cybersecurity Information Sharing Act (CISA) ,
Digital Currency ,
Economic Sanctions ,
Enforcement Actions ,
Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) ,
Ransomware ,
SDN List ,
U.S. Treasury ,
Virtual Currency
On Monday, August 9, 2021, the Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) of the US Department of the Treasury issued a multitude of sanctions designations affecting dealings with Belarusian companies in the construction, oil,...more
In 2019, the US imposed sanctions against China in reaction to “serious human rights abuse against ethnic minorities in Xinjiang...” The sanctions followed reports of mass arbitrary detention and severe physical abuse, among...more
6/16/2021
/ Biden Administration ,
China ,
Economic Sanctions ,
Exports ,
Forced Labor ,
Human Rights ,
Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) ,
Rare Earth Metals ,
SDN List ,
Slavery ,
Solar Panels ,
Supply Chain
On June 3, 2021, in one of his first major China-related actions, President Biden issued an Executive Order that amends, but keeps intact the core elements of, previous orders issued by President Trump prohibiting US Persons...more
6/7/2021
/ Biden Administration ,
China ,
Department of Defense (DOD) ,
Exemptions ,
Foreign Investment ,
Human Rights ,
Military End Use ,
National Security ,
Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) ,
Prohibited Transactions ,
SDN List ,
Technology Sector ,
Telecommunications ,
U.S. Treasury
While the Biden Administration desires a “stable and predictable” relationship with Russia, it has now made it clear that it will take “actions to impose costs on Russia for actions by its government and intelligence services...more
4/22/2021
/ Biden Administration ,
Blocked Entities ,
Blocked Person ,
Blocking Sanctions ,
Crimea ,
Economic Sanctions ,
Executive Orders ,
Foreign Policy ,
Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) ,
Popular ,
Russia
On March 25, 2021, in its effort to intensify international pressure on Min Aung Hlaing’s military government, the US placed sanctions, pursuant to Executive Order 14014, on two holding companies, Myanma Economic Holdings...more
On December 14, 2020, the United States (US) imposed sanctions on Turkey pursuant to Countering America’s Adversaries Through Sanctions Act (CAATSA) for “knowingly engaging in a significant transaction with Rosoboronexport...more