While media reporting has predominantly focused on the provisions in the emergency foreign aid package that President Biden signed into law on April 24, 2024 that provides funding for Ukraine, Israel and Taiwan, House Foreign...more
5/1/2024
/ Department of Justice (DOJ) ,
Drug Trafficking ,
Economic Sanctions ,
International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA) ,
National Security ,
New Legislation ,
Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) ,
Reporting Requirements ,
Sanction Violations ,
Statute of Limitations ,
TWEA
Key Points - On April 17, 2024, based on a determination by the U.S. government that Nicolás Maduro and his representatives “have not fully met the commitments made” with respect to upcoming Venezuelan elections, the U.S....more
Within the trade bar there is cautiousness, curiosity and skepticism at the numerous pronouncements signaling greater enforcement of export controls and sanctions by the Bureau of Industry and Security, the Office of Foreign...more
12/14/2023
/ Anti-Money Laundering ,
Bureau of Industry and Security (BIS) ,
China ,
Civil Monetary Penalty ,
Criminal Investigations ,
Department of Justice (DOJ) ,
Economic Sanctions ,
Enforcement ,
Export Administration Regulations (EAR) ,
Export Controls ,
FinCEN ,
Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA) ,
Investigations ,
Iran ,
Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) ,
Russia ,
Sanction Violations ,
U.S. Commerce Department ,
Whistleblowers
Key Points -
On October 18, 2023, the U.S. Department of the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (“OFAC”) took action to relax certain U.S. sanctions on Venezuela in response to the signing of an electoral roadmap...more
Key Points -
On March 30, 2023, OFAC announced a settlement agreement with Wells Fargo for 124 apparent violations of three different sanctions programs (Iran, Syria and Sudan), all related to a legacy Wachovia Bank...more
4/18/2023
/ Compliance ,
Corporate Counsel ,
Corporate Culture ,
Corporate Misconduct ,
Economic Sanctions ,
Enforcement Actions ,
Financial Transactions ,
Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) ,
Popular ,
Sanction Violations ,
Wells Fargo
Introduction -
In 2022, the United States, European Union (EU) and United Kingdom, along with a significant number of other partners and allies, imposed an unprecedented number of economic, financial and trade sanctions...more
Since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, we have seen an extraordinary range of sanctions and export controls restrictions introduced by tens of countries worldwide. The current sanctions imposed on Russia by the...more
Key Points -
As part of highly coordinated U.S. government and allied and partner country responses to Russia’s further invasion of Ukraine, and Belarus’ enabling of it, BIS imposed on February 24, 2022, and March 2,...more
- On May 14, 2020, OFAC, the Department of State and the U.S. Coast Guard jointly released guidance for persons involved in the maritime industry regarding common deceptive shipping practices used to subvert U.S. and United...more
6/4/2020
/ Economic Sanctions ,
Energy Sector ,
Enforcement Actions ,
Exports ,
Imports ,
Iran ,
Maritime Transport ,
Metals ,
New Guidance ,
North Korea ,
Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) ,
Sanction Violations ,
Shipping ,
Supply Chain ,
Syria ,
Unfair or Deceptive Trade Practices ,
Vessels
• On December 13, 2019, the Department of Justice (DOJ) revised and re-issued its “Export Controls and Sanctions Policy for Business Organizations” (the “Revised Policy”) to “provide greater clarity for companies faced with a...more
12/20/2019
/ Corporate Counsel ,
Corporate Misconduct ,
Criminal Penalties ,
Criminal Prosecution ,
Department of Justice (DOJ) ,
Economic Sanctions ,
Export Controls ,
Exports ,
Financial Institutions ,
Incentives ,
Non-Prosecution Agreements ,
Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) ,
Sanction Violations ,
Voluntary Disclosure
• On August 8, OFAC issued Findings of Violation to two U.S. companies in relation to administrative subpoenas with follow-up responses deemed by OFAC to be inaccurate or incomplete.
• These recent actions build upon a...more
• On June 21, 2019, the U.S. Department of the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) issued and put into effect an Interim Final Rule (Interim Rule) that requires all U.S. persons and persons subject to U.S....more
• OFAC recently added a Moscow-based Russian-Venezuelan joint venture bank, Evrofinance Mosnarbank (“Evrofinance”), to the List of Specially Designated Nationals and Blocked Persons (the “SDN List”) for engaging in sanctions...more
3/29/2019
/ Banking Sector ,
Blocked Person ,
Economic Sanctions ,
Financial Institutions ,
Foreign Policy ,
General Licenses ,
Joint Venture ,
National Security ,
Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) ,
Oil & Gas ,
Russia ,
SDN List ,
Trump Administration ,
Venezuela
• On January 28, 2019, OFAC added the Venezuelan state-owned oil and natural gas company PdVSA to its SDN List.
• As a result, U.S. persons are generally prohibited from engaging in transactions with PdVSA and entities that...more
2/6/2019
/ Blocked Person ,
Bonds ,
Capital Markets ,
Debt-Equity ,
Economic Sanctions ,
Energy Sector ,
Executive Orders ,
General Licenses ,
Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) ,
Oil & Gas ,
SDN List ,
Securities Transactions ,
State-Owned Enterprises ,
Trump Administration ,
Venezuela
• On November 28, 2018, OFAC designated two Iran-based individuals who helped exchange cryptocurrency (bitcoin) into fiat currency on behalf of alleged ransomware perpetrators who targeted U.S. businesses and municipal...more
1/11/2019
/ Bitcoin ,
Blocked Person ,
Corporate Counsel ,
Crypto Exchanges ,
Cryptocurrency ,
Cyber Attacks ,
Cyber Crimes ,
Cybersecurity ,
Data Privacy ,
Data Protection ,
Digital Currency ,
Digital Wallets ,
Economic Sanctions ,
Enforcement Actions ,
Financial Institutions ,
Iran Sanctions ,
Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) ,
Ransomware ,
SDN List ,
U.S. Treasury
• On October 11, 2018, FinCEN released an advisory to help U.S. financial institutions better detect potentially illicit transactions related to Iran.
• The advisory describes how Iran attempts to access the international...more
10/23/2018
/ Advisory Opinions ,
AML/CFT ,
Banks ,
Economic Sanctions ,
Enforcement Actions ,
Financial Institutions ,
FinCEN ,
International Finance ,
International Relations ,
Iran ,
Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) ,
Money Services Business ,
Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) ,
Popular ,
SDN List ,
Virtual Currency
• On September 20, 2018, for the first time, the Trump administration imposed sanctions on a non-U.S. entity and its director for engaging in “significant transactions” with a Russian defense sector company included on the...more
9/26/2018
/ Blocked Person ,
CAATSA ,
Defense Sector ,
Economic Sanctions ,
Executive Orders ,
Intelligence Services ,
Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) ,
Russia ,
SDN List ,
Secondary Sanctions ,
Suppliers ,
Trump Administration
• On August 6, 2018, following President Trump’s decision to withdraw the United States from the JCPOA, the U.S. government announced the reimposition of sanctions on Iran’s automotive sector, its trade in gold and precious...more
8/17/2018
/ Blocking Statutes ,
Economic Sanctions ,
EU ,
Executive Orders ,
International Relations ,
Iran ,
Iran Sanctions ,
Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) ,
Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) ,
SDN List ,
Secondary Sanctions ,
Trade Relations ,
Trump Administration ,
Winding Down ,
Withdrawal
• On June 11th, BIS published a superseding settlement agreement with ZTE, levying the largest-ever monetary penalty by BIS against a non-U.S. company and imposing significant additional compliance measures in exchange for...more
6/13/2018
/ Administrative Authority ,
Bureau of Industry and Security (BIS) ,
Civil Monetary Penalty ,
Corporate Counsel ,
Economic Sanctions ,
Export Administration Regulations (EAR) ,
Export Controls ,
Exports ,
False Statements ,
Regulatory Agencies ,
Sanction Violations ,
Settlement Agreements ,
Telecommunications ,
U.S. Commerce Department ,
ZTE
• On May 22, 2018, OFAC issued General License 15, authorizing U.S. persons to engage in specified transactions related to maintenance or wind-down of operations, contracts or other agreements involving GAZ Group or any...more
• On May 21, 2018, the Trump administration imposed new sanctions on the Government of Venezuela in response to the reelection of President Maduro and the “deepening humanitarian and public health crisis” fueled by the Maduro...more
• The U.S. government has withdrawn from the Iran Nuclear Deal and reverted sanctions to the status quo ante by re-imposing secondary sanctions that restrict non-U.S. persons from engaging in a broad range of business in...more
5/10/2018
/ Controlled Foreign Corporations ,
Economic Sanctions ,
Exports ,
Foreign Financial Institutions (FFI) ,
Foreign Policy ,
Foreign Relations ,
General Licenses ,
Iran ,
Iran Sanctions ,
Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) ,
Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) ,
SDN List ,
Trade Policy ,
Trump Administration
• On May 1, 2018, OFAC issued General License 13A authorizing the divestment or transfer of certain debt, equity or other holdings issued by EN+ Group, GAZ Group or United Company RUSAL PLC, as well as entities in which such...more
Today, OFAC issued General License 14, authorizing U.S. persons to engage in specified transactions related to maintenance or wind down of operations, contracts or other agreements involving RUSAL until October 23, 2018,...more
• The United States Department of Commerce announced the denial of export privileges against Zhongxing Telecommunications Equipment Corporation and ZTE Kangxun Telecommunications Ltd. (collectively, ZTE) on April 16, 2018....more
4/20/2018
/ Bureau of Industry and Security (BIS) ,
China ,
Economic Sanctions ,
Entity List ,
Export Administration Regulations (EAR) ,
Export Controls ,
Exports ,
False Statements ,
Settlement Negotiations ,
Telecommunications ,
U.S. Commerce Department ,
ZTE