On June 12, 2024, the U.S. Department of the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) announced new measures targeting Russia’s financial infrastructure, including:
1. Expanding the scope of financial sanctions:...more
Effective April 24, the statute of limitations (“SoL”) under the International Emergency Economic Powers Act (“IEEPA”) and the Trading with the Enemy Act (“TWEA”) has been extended from five to ten years. It would have been...more
Grants and tax credits, who doesn’t love them? The Bipartisan Infrastructure Law (BIL) is full of them, and, recent Department of Energy (DOE) Notification of a Proposed Interpretive Rule provides guidance on who will get to...more
1/15/2024
/ Automated Transportation ,
Batteries ,
Clean Energy ,
Department of Energy (DOE) ,
Electric Vehicles ,
Energy Sector ,
Foreign Entities ,
Manufacturers ,
Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) ,
Proposed Rules ,
Renewable Energy ,
SDN List ,
Supply Chain
On November 21, 2023, the U.S. Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) announced its largest settlement in history with the virtual currency exchange Binance. This almost-billion dollar settlement is a part of a larger...more
11/27/2023
/ Anti-Money Laundering ,
CFTC ,
Civil Monetary Penalty ,
Compliance ,
Crypto Exchanges ,
Cryptocurrency ,
Department of Justice (DOJ) ,
Economic Sanctions ,
Enforcement Actions ,
FinCEN ,
Money Laundering ,
Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) ,
Sanction Violations ,
Settlement ,
Virtual Currency
On June 23, 2023, the EU released its 11th package of sanctions on Russia. This package is designed to improve enforcement with new anti-circumvention rules, new trade restrictions, and new designations. The...more
6/26/2023
/ Asset Freeze ,
Crude Oil ,
Economic Sanctions ,
EU ,
Export Controls ,
Imports ,
Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) ,
Oil & Gas ,
Russia ,
SDN List ,
Supply Chain ,
UK ,
Ukraine
Between Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and growing U.S. tensions with China, U.S. export controls are in the spotlight like never before. As if regulators have not already made it clear enough, recent statements and actions...more
5/19/2023
/ Bureau of Industry and Security (BIS) ,
China ,
Department of Justice (DOJ) ,
Enforcement Actions ,
Export Controls ,
Exports ,
Investigations ,
Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) ,
Russia ,
Semiconductors ,
Ukraine
In response to Russia’s ongoing aggression in Ukraine, both the United States and the European Union have imposed additional sanctions and further restricted exports to Russia and Iran. These new controls span many...more
2/28/2023
/ Economic Sanctions ,
Entity List ,
EU ,
Export Controls ,
Exports ,
Iran ,
Iran Sanctions ,
Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) ,
Russia ,
SDN List ,
Trade Restrictions ,
UK ,
Ukraine
On October 21, 2022, the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) officially moved Myanmar onto the agency’s blacklist, where it joins Iran and North Korea, the only other two listed countries. It is likely that the United States...more
On September 30, 2022, the Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) published compliance guidance for instant payment systems. The guide highlights the need for emerging payment technology companies to assess their sanctions...more
After Mahsa Amini was killed in the custody of “Gasht-e-Ershad” or Iran’s Guidance Patrol, commonly referred to as Iran’s morality police, following an arrest for placement of her hijab, protests have erupted throughout Iran...more
On July 7, 2022, the Treasury Department laid out how it would work with its overseas counterparts and in international forums as the U.S. studies cryptocurrencies to set up a possible regulatory regime. This framework is the...more
On May 6, the US Department of the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) designated a cryptocurrency mixer, Blender.io, as a Specially Designated National (SDN). That sanction follows a series of enforcements and...more
Updated as of April 12, 2022 -
It has now been more than 40 days since the start of Putin’s brutal invasion of Ukraine. Today, following the recent revelations of the atrocities committed in Bucha, Ukraine by Russian armed...more
4/13/2022
/ Asset Freeze ,
Belarus Sanctions ,
Economic Sanctions ,
EU ,
Export Controls ,
Financial Transactions ,
G7 ,
General Licenses ,
Investment ,
Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) ,
Russia ,
SDN List ,
Trading Restrictions ,
UK ,
Ukraine
It has now been more than 40 days since the start of Putin’s brutal invasion of Ukraine. Today, following the recent revelations of the atrocities committed in Bucha, Ukraine by Russian armed forces, the United States – in...more
The recent comprehensive economic sanctions by the U.S. and other nations against Russia has propelled the crypto community onto the geo-political stage in a major way. As with other forms of payment and methods of money...more
Updated as of February 25, 2022 -
Key Takeaways of OFAC (Treasury) and BIS (Commerce) Actions -
Major Russian Banks Blocked from the U.S. Financial System. Six major Russian banks — VEB, Promsvyazbank (PSB), VTB Bank,...more
U.S. Comprehensive Sanctions Against the DNR and the LNR -
Scope: the DNR and LNR -
The new EO does not detail which parts of the Donetsk and Luhansk regions[1] are subject to the new U.S. sanctions. It is likely that...more
2/22/2022
/ Biden Administration ,
EU ,
Executive Orders ,
Export Administration Regulations (EAR) ,
International Trade ,
Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) ,
Russia ,
Sanctions ,
UK ,
Ukraine ,
United States ,
Vladimir Putin
With Russian forces massing at the Ukrainian border, the U.S. and EU have been warning of severe economic sanctions. While we wait and watch this brinksmanship play out, it is worth considering how businesses, and...more
12/16/2021
/ Banks ,
Economic Sanctions ,
EU ,
Financial Institutions ,
Joe Biden ,
Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) ,
Russia ,
Sanctions ,
SWIFT ,
U.S. Treasury ,
Vladimir Putin
On June 10, 2021, China enacted the Anti-Foreign Sanctions Law (“AFSL”), aimed at punishing countries that impose anti-China sanctions and the companies that comply with those sanctions. The law is effective immediately, and...more
On February 1, 2021, the Myanmar military overthrew the country’s democratically elected government and installed an army general as head of state, with a cadre of military officials and their allies running the government. ...more
On May 8, 2018, the United States withdrew from the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action and reimposed all pre-JCPOA sanctions against Iran... After a prescribed wind-down period, all U.S. sanctions on Iran are now in force....more
11/6/2018
/ Economic Sanctions ,
Foreign Financial Institutions (FFI) ,
Foreign Policy ,
Foreign Relations ,
Iran ,
Iran Sanctions ,
Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) ,
Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) ,
SDN List ,
Trump Administration ,
Waivers
1. All sanctions on Iran that were in place before January 2016 will be re-imposed no later than November, 4 2018.
2. Secondary sanctions that penalize non-U.S. persons doing business with Iran will be reinstated.
3....more
5/14/2018
/ Economic Sanctions ,
Exports ,
Foreign Financial Institutions (FFI) ,
Foreign Policy ,
Foreign Relations ,
General Licenses ,
Goods or Services ,
Imports ,
Iran ,
Iran Sanctions ,
Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) ,
NDAA ,
Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) ,
SDN List ,
Trump Administration
What does decertification mean?
For the time being, decertification is a solely U.S. issue. Under the Iran nuclear agreement (known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action, or JCPOA), Iran agreed to limits on its nuclear...more
10/13/2017
/ Automotive Industry ,
Banking Sector ,
Energy Sector ,
Financial Transactions ,
Foreign Subsidiaries ,
Iran ,
Iran Sanctions ,
Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) ,
Nuclear Weapons ,
Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) ,
SDN List ,
Shipping ,
Sovereign Debt
On July 17, 2017, the U.S. State Department certified that Iran continues to meet the conditions of the Iran nuclear agreement known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action, or JCPOA. As a result, for the next 90 days, the...more
On April 3, 2017, the UK Treasury’s Office of Financial Sanctions Implementation (OFSI) announced new penalties for economic sanctions violations of £1 Million or 50% of the value of the transaction, whichever is higher. As a...more
5/24/2017
/ Breach of Financial Sanctions ,
Civil Monetary Penalty ,
Corporate Counsel ,
Economic Sanctions ,
Enforcement Actions ,
Export Controls ,
HM Treasury ,
Office of Financial Sanctions Implementation (OFSI) ,
Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) ,
Policing and Crime Act 2017 ,
UK