President Donald Trump on February 21, 2025 issued a National Security Presidential Memorandum titled the America First Investment Policy to provide guidance to executive departments in their review and decision-making with...more
On January 2, 2025, the US Department of Defense added a number of entities to its list of “Chinese military companies" (CMC List). While being named to this list, by itself, does not prohibit US businesses from continuing to...more
1/23/2025
/ Bureau of Industry and Security (BIS) ,
China ,
Department of Defense (DOD) ,
Economic Sanctions ,
Export Controls ,
Military End Use ,
National Security ,
NDAA ,
Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) ,
Risk Management ,
Supply Chain
The US Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) issued Syria General License 24 (GL 24) authorizing certain transactions with the new Syrian government and easing some transactions related to energy and personal remittances....more
The US Department of Treasury published its final regulations covering the national security review process for outbound investments on October 28, 2024. The regulations impose notice and prohibition requirements on specific...more
Marking what appears to be a reversal of previous policy, the Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) determined that US persons can, subject to certain limitations, include sanctioned persons as speakers at overseas...more
In a ruling eagerly awaited by the cryptocurrency industry, the US Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit held that immutable smart contracts on the Tornado Cash crypto-transaction software protocol are not “property” subject...more
The US Office of Foreign Assets Control recently amended its insurance-related FAQ and issued two new FAQs. This focus on insurance-related guidance comes at the same time as an enforcement action targeting an insurer that...more
The US Departments of Commerce and State (together, the Departments) have taken significant steps to update US export control rules pertaining to space-related export controls, impacting spacecraft, launch vehicles, and...more
Though unutilized for the first 18 months of its life, a recent presidential delegation suggests that the administration may be ready to wield the sanctions authority found in the Protecting American Intellectual Property Act...more
OFAC’s new FAQ 1097, issued October 10, warns US investors of the need to block securities held at Russia’s National Settlement Depository (NSD), even if the securities or the issuer is not sanctioned. Even if the security is...more
The US Department of Commerce’s Bureau of Industry and Security (BIS) published an Interim Final Rule (IFR) on September 6, 2024 to implement worldwide export controls on quantum computing, semiconductor, addictive computing,...more
The US Department of the Treasury on July 8, 2024 proposed updates to the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States’s (CFIUS’s) regulations that seek to expand the list of military installations for which proximity...more
The US Office of Foreign Assets Control first issued the Syrian Sanctions on April 5, 2005, implementing Executive Order 13338, “Blocking Property of Certain Persons and Prohibiting the Export of Certain Goods to Syria.” On...more
The US government recently announced additional significant export controls and sanctions related to Russia and Belarus, including new export restrictions on EAR99 software, certain consumer communication devices, and...more
The Government Accountability Office (GAO) has issued its report on the national security implications of how the US government collects, shares, and considers foreign purchases and ownership of US agricultural land. It...more
The US-China Economic and Security Review Commission released on November 14 its annual report for 2023—2023 Report to Congress: US-China Economic and Security Review Commission—issuing recommendations to track the Biden...more
The Biden administration suspended certain sanctions on the Government of Venezuela, including some impacting Petróleos de Venezuela S.A. (PdVSA), on October 18, 2023. This significant, albeit currently temporary, change in...more
The Biden administration issued a long-anticipated executive order on August 9 regarding US outbound investment in select technology and products with national security applications produced by “countries of concern.”...more
The US government’s multibranch effort to implement a new regulatory regime designed to regulate outbound investments based on national security concerns moved forward with the White House’s August 9, 2023 Executive Order, EO...more
The Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States (CFIUS or Committee) recently released its annual report for 2022. The report contains data that provides potentially useful insights into how CFIUS is functioning, the...more
The passage of the Protecting American Intellectual Property Act of 2022, 35 USC § 1709 (PAIPA), earlier this year underscored Congress’s continued aggressive approach to protecting domestic trade secrets from...more
The US Senate approved an amendment to the National Defense Authorization Act adding mandatory notifications of certain outbound investments in certain countries, including the People’s Republic of China....more
The Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States (CFIUS) caught some lawyers and businesses off guard in early May 2023 when it issued new Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ) indicating that staged transactions that...more
While the longstanding review by the United States of cross-border investments for national security implications might sound like the same old song, several important developments in recent years should give investors and...more
The US continues to increase economic sanctions on Russia and Belarus. February 27 saw multiple actions expanding sanctions, including restrictions on exports of a large swath of equipment and consumer goods, Office of...more