President Donald Trump issued an Executive Order (the EO) on June 30, 2025, terminating the U.S. government's Syria sanctions program and directing other actions that, if finalized, will revoke the vast majority of U.S. trade...more
The U.S. Department of the Treasury's Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) on May 23, 2025, announced a significant relaxation of the comprehensive economic sanctions imposed on Syria through the issuance of General...more
5/29/2025
/ Economic Sanctions ,
Executive Orders ,
Financial Institutions ,
General Licenses ,
Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) ,
Oil & Gas ,
Risk Management ,
Syria ,
Terrorist Organizations ,
Trump Administration ,
U.S. Treasury
During an investment forum in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, on May 13, 2025, President Donald Trump announced his intent to lift sanctions on Syria, stating that sanctions relief will "give them a chance at greatness."...more
5/19/2025
/ Donald Trump ,
Economic Sanctions ,
Embargo ,
Executive Orders ,
Export Administration Regulations (EAR) ,
Exports ,
Foreign Policy ,
International Trade ,
Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) ,
Saudi Arabia ,
Syria ,
US Trade Policies
President Donald Trump on Jan. 20, 2025, issued various immigration-related Executive Orders (EOs) and presidential actions that could have an immediate and lasting impact on Latin American countries. President Trump's...more
2/3/2025
/ Economic Sanctions ,
Executive Orders ,
Foreign Policy ,
Immigration Procedures ,
International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA) ,
International Trade ,
Latin America ,
Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) ,
Retaliation ,
Tariffs ,
Trump Administration
Within hours after taking office on Jan. 20, 2025, U.S. President Donald Trump signed an omnibus executive order revoking 78 executive actions by the previous administration, dating back to 2021. Among them, President Trump...more
Besides certain expansions on remittances in 2022, the White House, on Jan. 14, 2025, issued a statement announcing President Joe Biden's plans to relax sanctions on Cuba through a series of broad measures aimed at improving...more
1/17/2025
/ Biden Administration ,
Bureau of Industry and Security (BIS) ,
Cuba ,
Economic Sanctions ,
Export Controls ,
Foreign Policy ,
National Security ,
Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) ,
State Sponsors of Terrorism ,
Trump Administration ,
U.S. Treasury
The U.S. Department of the Treasury's Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) amended the Cuban Assets Control Regulations (CACR), 31 CFR Part 515, to promote internet freedom in Cuba, support independent Cuban private-sector...more
5/30/2024
/ Amended Regulation ,
Bank Accounts ,
Banking Sector ,
Biden Administration ,
Blocked Person ,
Cuba ,
Cuban Assets Control Regulations (CACR) ,
Economic Development ,
Entrepreneurs ,
Financial Services Industry ,
Foreign Nationals ,
General Licenses ,
Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) ,
Private Sector ,
SDN List
The U.S. Department of the Treasury's Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) issued General License 44A (GL 44A) on April 17, 2024, replacing and superseding General License 44 (GL 44). On Oct. 18, 2023, OFAC suspended...more
The U.S. Department of the Treasury's Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC), U.S. Department of Commerce's Bureau of Industry and Security (BIS) and U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) on March 6, 2024, issued a Tri-Seal...more
3/15/2024
/ Bureau of Industry and Security (BIS) ,
Compliance ,
Criminal Prosecution ,
Department of Justice (DOJ) ,
Economic Sanctions ,
Enforcement Actions ,
Export Controls ,
Extraterritoriality Rules ,
FinCEN ,
Joint Policy Statements ,
Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) ,
Self-Disclosure Requirements
The U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ), Department of Commerce's Bureau of Industry and Security (BIS) and Department of the Treasury's Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) on July 26, 2023, issued a Tri-Seal Compliance Note...more
8/2/2023
/ Bureau of Industry and Security (BIS) ,
China ,
Compliance ,
Department of Justice (DOJ) ,
Economic Sanctions ,
Enforcement Authority ,
Export Controls ,
Exports ,
Iran ,
Joint Policy Statements ,
Joint Statements ,
National Security ,
Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) ,
Russia ,
Sanction Violations ,
Self-Reporting
The U.S. Department of Commerce's Bureau of Industry and Security (BIS) took a number of actions under the Export Administration Regulations (EAR) on May 19, 2023. Here are some of the key U.S. export control actions...more
5/25/2023
/ Belarus ,
Belarus Sanctions ,
Bureau of Industry and Security (BIS) ,
Commerce Control List ,
Economic Sanctions ,
Export Administration Regulations (EAR) ,
Export Controls ,
FinCEN ,
Globally Harmonized System ,
Iran ,
Military End Use ,
Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) ,
Russia ,
SDN List ,
Tariffs ,
Ukraine
As an update to an earlier Holland & Knight alert on the same topic, the U.S. Department of the Treasury Office of Foreign Asset Control (OFAC) has published another determination pursuant to Executive Order 14071 expanding...more
2/8/2023
/ Australia ,
Biden Administration ,
Crude Oil ,
Economic Sanctions ,
EU ,
Executive Orders ,
Exports ,
G7 ,
Maritime Transport ,
Military Conflict ,
Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) ,
Oil & Gas ,
Oil Prices ,
Petroleum ,
Russia ,
Tariffs ,
Ukraine
The U.S. Department of the Treasury's Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) is increasing each civil monetary penalty within its jurisdiction for 2023 by 7.7 percent. The increases came into effect on Jan. 13, 2023.1 Note...more
The U.S. Department of the Treasury's Office of Foreign Asset Control (OFAC) on Nov. 28, 2022, announced a more than $362,000 settlement with Payward Inc. d/b/a Kraken (Kraken), a Delaware-incorporated company that offers...more
The U.S. Department of the Treasury Office of Foreign Asset Control (OFAC) on Nov. 21, 2022, published a determination pursuant to E.O. 14071 prohibiting U.S. persons from providing certain services related to the maritime...more
The U.S. Department of the Treasury's Office of Foreign Asset Control (OFAC) recently issued two general licenses related to aviation and maritime safety. OFAC issued Russia-related General License 40C (GL 40C), Civil...more
The U.S. Department of the Treasury's Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) on Oct. 11, 2022, announced a more than $24.28 million settlement with Bittrex Inc. (Bittrex), a Bellevue, Washington-based company that offers...more
10/25/2022
/ Compliance ,
Cooperation ,
Crypto Exchanges ,
Cryptocurrency ,
Digital Assets ,
Economic Sanctions ,
Enforcement Actions ,
FinCEN ,
Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) ,
SDN List ,
Settlement ,
Virtual Currency
The U.S. Department of State announced on May 16, 2022, a series of measures aimed at supporting the Cuban people and independent Cuban entrepreneurs and loosening Trump-era restrictions that largely isolated the island and...more
5/23/2022
/ Biden Administration ,
Cannabis Products ,
Consulate ,
Corporate Counsel ,
Cuba ,
Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) ,
Foreign Relations ,
Human Rights ,
Obama Administration ,
Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) ,
Small Business ,
Trade Restrictions ,
Travel Restrictions ,
Trump Administration ,
U.S. Embassies ,
US Department of State ,
Visas
The Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) on Sept. 4, 2019, promulgated regulations expanding the application of Executive Order 13851 ("Blocking Property of Certain Persons Contributing to the Situation in Nicaragua")...more
• President Donald Trump saying at the recent G20 Summit in Japan that American companies could keep selling products to Huawei Technologies Co. Ltd. (Huawei) was another installment in the drama surrounding the Chinese tech...more
7/17/2019
/ Bureau of Industry and Security (BIS) ,
China ,
Entity List ,
Executive Orders ,
Export Administration Regulations (EAR) ,
Exports ,
Foreign Adversaries ,
Foreign Policy ,
General Licenses ,
Huawei ,
National Security ,
Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) ,
Prohibited Transactions ,
Sanction Violations ,
Technology Sector ,
Telecommunications ,
Trade Relations ,
Trade Wars ,
Trump Administration ,
U.S. Commerce Department ,
US Trade Policies
• Effective May 2, 2019, the Trump Administration will not continue the waiver against lawsuits under Title III of the Cuban Liberty and Democratic Solidarity (LIBERTAD) Act of 1996, also known as the Helms-Burton Act.
•...more
4/26/2019
/ Civil Liability ,
Cuba ,
Extraterritoriality Rules ,
Foreign Nationals ,
International Travel ,
Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) ,
Personal Jurisdiction ,
Trafficking ,
Trump Administration ,
US State Departments ,
WTO
• National Security Advisor Ambassador John Bolton issued a statement threatening sanctions against non-U.S. banks for facilitating illegitimate transactions with certain Venezuelan individuals and entities.
• This...more
3/14/2019
/ Banking Sector ,
Blocked Entities ,
Cross-Border Transactions ,
Economic Sanctions ,
Executive Orders ,
Foreign Financial Institutions (FFI) ,
Foreign Relations ,
Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) ,
SDN List ,
Secondary Sanctions ,
Venezuela
• The U.S. Department of the Treasury's (Treasury) Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) has designated five officials affiliated with the regime of Nicolas Maduro pursuant to Executive Order 13850 (E.O. 13850), including...more
• Pursuant to Executive Order 13850 (E.O. 13850), the U.S. Department of the Treasury's (Treasury) Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) designated Petroleos de Venezuela, S.A. (PdVSA), effectively blocking PdVSA's property...more
1/31/2019
/ Banking Sector ,
Blocked Person ,
Economic Sanctions ,
Executive Orders ,
Financial Institutions ,
Foreign Policy ,
General Licenses ,
Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) ,
Oil & Gas ,
Petroleum ,
SDN List ,
Trump Administration ,
Venezuela
• The U.S. Department of the Treasury's Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) revoked certain Iran-related "general licenses" that allowed U.S. and U.S.-owned foreign entities to engage in certain transactions and...more