Following the death of political activist Aleksey Navalny and to mark the second anniversary of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, the United States, EU and UK adopted a series of amendments to their respective economic sanctions...more
On December 22, 2023, President Biden issued a new Russia-related Executive Order (“EO”) targeting foreign financial institutions (“FFIs”) that support Russia’s military-industrial base. The new EO allows the U.S. government...more
On May 19, 2023, the US Department of Treasury, State, and Commerce imposed the most significant tranche of sanctions and export control measures in several months. The measures included (i) new designations on the Specially...more
The Office of Foreign Assets Control (“OFAC”) issued General License (“GL”) No. 22 on May 12, 2022, authorizing transactions that are ordinarily incident and necessary to activities that occur in specified, non-regime held...more
On 27 May 2020 U.S. Secretary of State Pompeo certified to Congress that the State Department no longer considers Hong Kong to have significant autonomy from China and therefore "Hong Kong does not continue to warrant...more
On 27 February 2020, the Office of Foreign Assets Controls (OFAC) issued General License (GL) 8 authorizing certain humanitarian trade transactions involving the Central Bank of Iran (CBI) that are otherwise prohibited under...more
3/6/2020
/ Banks ,
Commodities ,
Economic Sanctions ,
Food Supply ,
Foreign Relations ,
General Licenses ,
Global Terrorism Sanctions Regulations (GTSR) ,
Humanitarian Assistance ,
Iran ,
Iran Sanctions ,
ITSR ,
Medical Devices ,
Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) ,
Regulatory Requirements ,
Reporting Requirements ,
SDN List ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
Switzerland ,
Trade Agreements
On 24 February 2020 the Bureau of Industry and Security (BIS) of the U.S. Department of Commerce published a final rule amending the Export Administration Regulations (EAR) and imposing additional export licensing...more
2/28/2020
/ Aircraft ,
Biological-Weapons ,
Bureau of Industry and Security (BIS) ,
Export Administration Regulations (EAR) ,
Export Controls ,
Exports ,
Foreign Relations ,
Licensing Rules ,
National Security ,
Nuclear Weapons ,
Russia ,
Software ,
U.S. Commerce Department ,
Vessels ,
Yemen
On 10 January 2020, in response to missile attacks by the Iranian military targeting two U.S. bases in Iraq, the United States Department of the Treasury, Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) designated a number of senior...more
1/14/2020
/ Blocked Person ,
Construction Project ,
Economic Sanctions ,
Executive Orders ,
Foreign Policy ,
Foreign Relations ,
Goods or Services ,
Iran ,
Iran Sanctions ,
Manufacturers ,
Mining ,
Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) ,
Prohibited Transactions ,
SDN List ,
Textiles ,
Trump Administration
On 25 October the U.S. Departments of the Treasury and State announced the establishment of a new channel for conducting due diligence on humanitarian trade with Iran.
Foreign governments and foreign financial institutions...more
11/8/2019
/ AML/CFT ,
Due Diligence ,
FinCEN ,
Foreign Financial Institutions (FFI) ,
Foreign Relations ,
Humanitarian Assistance ,
Iran ,
Iran Sanctions ,
Money Laundering ,
Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) ,
Reporting Requirements ,
Trump Administration
On 14 October, President Donald Trump issued Executive Order 13894, Blocking Property and Suspending Entry of Certain Persons Contributing to the Situation in Syria (EO).
...more
10/18/2019
/ Blocked Person ,
Economic Sanctions ,
Executive Orders ,
Foreign Financial Institutions (FFI) ,
Foreign Policy ,
Foreign Relations ,
General Licenses ,
Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) ,
SDN List ,
Syria ,
Trump Administration ,
Turkey ,
Unauthorized Transactions
On 2 May 2019, the U.S. Treasury's Office of Foreign Assets Control ("OFAC"), the agency responsible for enforcing economic sanctions, published "A Framework for OFAC Compliance Commitments" (the "Framework") which outlines...more
7/3/2019
/ Cooperative Compliance Regime ,
Economic Sanctions ,
Failure to Comply ,
Foreign Policy ,
Foreign Relations ,
Framework Agreement ,
Fund Managers ,
Internal Controls ,
Investment Funds ,
Investment Management ,
Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) ,
Private Equity ,
Risk Assessment ,
Sanction Violations
The United States has begun re-imposing nuclear-related sanctions with respect to Iran in connection with the expiration of the 90-day wind-down period announced alongside the United States' 8 May 2018 withdrawal from the...more
8/13/2018
/ Economic Sanctions ,
Energy Sector ,
Financial Institutions ,
Foreign Investment ,
Foreign Policy ,
Foreign Relations ,
Insurance Industry ,
Iran ,
Iran Sanctions ,
ITSR ,
Nuclear Weapons ,
Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) ,
SDN List ,
Shipping
On 8 August, the U.S. Department of State announced that new sanctions would be imposed on Russia pursuant to the Chemical and Biological Weapons Control and Warfare Elimination Act of 1991 (CBW Act). The sanctions relate to...more
As potential trade war looms, nearly 1,300 U.S.-imports may be subject to additional 25 percent tariffs under Section 301.
U.S. imports from China potentially subject to additional duties include certain chemicals,...more
4/9/2018
/ Aluminum Sales ,
China ,
Foreign Relations ,
Global Market ,
Imports ,
National Security ,
Steel Industry ,
Tariffs ,
Trade Relations ,
Trump Administration ,
US Trade Policies ,
USTR
Press reports indicate that President Trump intends to “de-certify” the Iran nuclear deal this week. In practical terms, that means he would refuse to re-certify one or more statutory elements of a law passed by the U.S....more
One day after the Venezuelan government held elections for a Constituent Assembly that the United States has asserted is aimed at rewriting the national constitution, the Department of the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets...more
On Friday, 16 June 2017, President Trump made his first major foray into U.S. - Cuban relations since assuming office. While it was a radical departure in tone from his predecessor, the changes he announced appear to leave...more