On March 25, 2021, the United States imposed sanctions on Myanma Economic Holdings Public Company Limited ("MEHL") and Myanmar Economic Corporation Limited ("MEC"), Burma's two largest military conglomerates. On the same day,...more
On 2 March 2021, the United States and European Union ("EU") imposed coordinated sanctions in response to the poisoning and imprisonment of Russian opposition politician Aleksey Navalny (and the related US determination that...more
On December 23, 2020, the US Department of Commerce's Bureau of Industry and Security ("BIS") issued a final rule creating a "Military End User List" ("MEU List") under the Export Administration Regulations ("EAR"). The final...more
1/8/2021
/ Bureau of Industry and Security (BIS) ,
China ,
Exceptions ,
Export Administration Regulations (EAR) ,
Export Controls ,
Exports ,
Final Rules ,
General Licenses ,
Licensing Rules ,
Military End Use ,
National Security ,
U.S. Commerce Department
On September 30, 2020, the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) voted to adopt a Report and Order that provides for new rules and procedures to formalize the review process of the Committee for the Assessment of Foreign...more
11/2/2020
/ CALEA ,
CFIUS ,
Communications Act of 1934 ,
Executive Orders ,
FCC ,
Foreign Policy ,
Law Enforcement ,
National Security ,
New Rules ,
Public Interest ,
Request For Information ,
Telecommunications
On September 15, 2020, the US Treasury Department published a final rule modifying the mandatory Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States (CFIUS) filing requirements for certain foreign investments in US...more
On August 17, 2020, the US Commerce Department's Bureau of Industry and Security (BIS) issued two final rules that expand the scope of licensing requirements for transactions involving parties on the Entity List. Both rules...more
8/30/2020
/ Bureau of Industry and Security (BIS) ,
China ,
Entity List ,
Export Administration Regulations (EAR) ,
Export Controls ,
Exports ,
Foreign-Produced Direct Product Rule (DPR) ,
General Licenses ,
Huawei ,
Licensing Rules ,
New Rules ,
Popular ,
Savings Clause ,
Scope of Coverage ,
Shipping ,
Technology Sector
In late July, the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States (CFIUS) released its Annual Report for 2019, providing insight into recent CFIUS trends. This included encouraging results on CFIUS outcomes for...more
8/14/2020
/ Annual Reports ,
CFIUS ,
China ,
Corporate Counsel ,
Cyber Threats ,
Enforcement Actions ,
Executive Orders ,
Filing Fees ,
FIRRMA ,
Foreign Acquisitions ,
Foreign Investment ,
Interim Rule ,
Japan ,
Mitigation ,
National Security Review Proceedings ,
Principal Place of Business ,
Prohibited Transactions ,
Short-Form Registration ,
Supply Chain ,
TikTok ,
Trump Administration ,
WeChat
There have been several recent developments related to the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States (CFIUS). Most notably, CFIUS has released a proposed rule that would change the mandatory filing criteria for...more
5/29/2020
/ Case Management ,
CFIUS ,
Critical Infrastructure Sectors ,
Export Administration Regulations (EAR) ,
FIRRMA ,
Foreign Acquisitions ,
Foreign Investment ,
ITAR ,
Mandatory Declarations ,
NAICS ,
National Security ,
National Security Review Proceedings ,
Proposed Amendments ,
Technology Sector
On April 28, 2020, the US Commerce Department's Bureau of Industry and Security (BIS) published two new final rules amending the Export Administration Regulations (EAR). One of the final rules removes license exception Civil...more
5/6/2020
/ Bureau of Industry and Security (BIS) ,
China ,
Commerce Control List ,
Economic Sanctions ,
Electronic Export Information (EEI) ,
End-Users ,
Exceptions ,
Export Administration Regulations (EAR) ,
Export Controls ,
Exports ,
Licensing Rules ,
Military End Use ,
Russia ,
U.S. Commerce Department ,
Venezuela
On April 29, 2020, the US Treasury Department published an interim rule establishing fees for parties filing a formal written notice of a transaction for review by the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States...more
On April 4, 2020, President Trump issued an Executive Order (EO) establishing the ‘Committee for the Assessment of Foreign Participation in the United States Telecommunications Services Sector’ (the Committee). The Committee...more
The regulations implementing the Foreign Investment Risk Review Modernization Act of 2018 (FIRRMA), which significantly expanded the jurisdiction and authorities of the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States...more
3/10/2020
/ Blocked Mergers ,
CFIUS ,
China ,
Critical Infrastructure Sectors ,
Cross-Border Transactions ,
Divestiture ,
Filing Fees ,
FIRRMA ,
Foreign Acquisitions ,
Foreign Investment ,
National Security ,
Real Estate Investments ,
Technology Sector ,
Trump Administration
On January 6, 2020, the US Department of Commerce's Bureau of Industry and Security (BIS) issued the first "emerging technology" rule to control artificial intelligence-based software specially designed to automate the...more
2/10/2020
/ Advanced Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (ANPRM) ,
Artificial Intelligence ,
Bureau of Industry and Security (BIS) ,
CFIUS ,
Classification ,
ECCNs ,
Emerging Technologies ,
Export Control Reform Act (ECRA) ,
Exports ,
FIRRMA ,
Imports ,
Interim Final Rules (IFR) ,
Public Comment ,
Software ,
Software Licenses ,
Technology Sector ,
U.S. Commerce Department
Nearly a year and a half after the Foreign Investment Risk Review Modernization Act of 2018 (FIRRMA) was enacted, authorizing the most substantial overhaul of the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States (CFIUS)...more
1/22/2020
/ Amended Regulation ,
CFIUS ,
Corporate Counsel ,
Covered Real Estate Transactions ,
Critical Infrastructure Sectors ,
Data Collection ,
Excepted Investors ,
Final Rules ,
FIRRMA ,
Foreign Acquisitions ,
Foreign Governments ,
Foreign Investment ,
Investment Funds ,
Jurisdiction ,
National Security ,
Non-Controlling Interests ,
Penalties ,
Principal Place of Business ,
Real Estate Investments ,
Real Estate Transactions ,
Sensitive Personal Information ,
State-Owned Enterprises ,
Technology Sector
On January 10, 2020, the President signed a new Executive Order (EO), "Imposing Sanctions With Respect to Additional Sectors of Iran," targeting Iran's construction, mining, manufacturing, and textiles industries. On the same...more
1/15/2020
/ Aluminum Sales ,
Blocked Person ,
Construction Industry ,
Economic Sanctions ,
Executive Orders ,
Foreign Financial Institutions (FFI) ,
Iran ,
Iran Sanctions ,
Manufacturers ,
Metals ,
Mining ,
Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) ,
SDN List ,
Steel Industry ,
Textiles ,
Trump Administration
On November 27, 2019, the US Department of Commerce (Commerce) issued a notice of proposed rulemaking on the implementation of Executive Order 13873 (the EO), "Securing the Information and Communications Technology and...more
12/3/2019
/ Executive Orders ,
Foreign Adversaries ,
Information and Communication Technology (ICT) ,
Jurisdiction ,
National Security ,
Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (NOPR) ,
Prohibited Transactions ,
Public Comment ,
Secretary of Commerce ,
Technology Sector ,
Telecommunications ,
Trump Administration ,
U.S. Commerce Department
On September 17, the US Department of the Treasury issued comprehensive proposed regulations to implement the Foreign Investment Risk Review Modernization Act of 2018 (FIRRMA). This alert describes key aspects of the proposed...more
10/3/2019
/ CFIUS ,
Critical Infrastructure Sectors ,
Exemptions ,
Filing Requirements ,
FIRRMA ,
Foreign Acquisitions ,
Foreign Investment ,
Jurisdiction ,
National Security ,
Personal Data ,
Proposed Regulation ,
Public Comment ,
Real Estate Transactions ,
Technology Sector ,
U.S. Treasury
On August 2, 2019, the United States announced the imposition of additional sanctions on the Russian Federation under the Chemical and Biological Weapons Control and Warfare Elimination Act of 1991 (CBW Act)....more
8/8/2019
/ Banks ,
Biological-Weapons ,
Bonds ,
Bureau of Industry and Security (BIS) ,
Chemical Warfare ,
Chemical Weapons ,
Economic Sanctions ,
Export Controls ,
Exports ,
General Licenses ,
Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) ,
Russia ,
Trump Administration
The US Commerce Department’s Bureau of Industry and Security (BIS) added Huawei Technologies Co., Ltd. (Huawei) and 68 non-US Huawei affiliates to the BIS Entity List, effective May 16, 2019, at 4:15 p.m. Eastern Daylight...more
5/28/2019
/ Bureau of Industry and Security (BIS) ,
Cybersecurity ,
Entity List ,
Export Administration Regulations (EAR) ,
Export Controls ,
Exports ,
General Licenses ,
Huawei ,
Network Security ,
Networks ,
Technology Sector ,
Telecommunications ,
U.S. Commerce Department
On May 15, 2019, President Trump issued an executive order (EO), "Executive Order on Securing the Information and Communications Technology and Services Supply Chain," prohibiting certain transactions involving...more
5/21/2019
/ Bureau of Industry and Security (BIS) ,
CFIUS ,
China ,
Cybersecurity ,
Department of Justice (DOJ) ,
Economic Sanctions ,
Enforcement Actions ,
Executive Orders ,
Export Controls ,
FIRRMA ,
Foreign Acquisitions ,
Foreign Adversaries ,
Hackers ,
Indictments ,
Industrial Espionage ,
Information Technology ,
Intellectual Property Protection ,
National Security ,
Popular ,
Prohibited Transactions ,
Proposed Legislation ,
Supply Chain ,
Telecommunications ,
Trade Secrets ,
Transfer Restrictions ,
Trump Administration ,
U.S. Commerce Department
On May 8, 2019, following Iran's announcement that it intends to suspend certain nuclear proliferation-related commitments under the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), the United States issued a new Executive order...more
5/14/2019
/ Blocking Sanctions ,
Blocking Statutes ,
CAPTA List ,
China ,
Economic Sanctions ,
EU ,
Executive Orders ,
Foreign Financial Institutions (FFI) ,
France ,
Germany ,
IFCA ,
Iran ,
Iran Sanctions ,
Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) ,
Metals ,
Nuclear Power ,
Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) ,
Popular ,
Prohibited Transactions ,
SDN List ,
Steel Industry ,
Suspensions ,
Trump Administration ,
UK ,
Waivers
On 31 January 2019, France, Germany and the United Kingdom (the "E3") announced the registration in France of INSTEX SAS ("Instrument for Supporting Trade Exchanges"), which is a special purpose vehicle aimed at facilitating...more
2/14/2019
/ AML/CFT ,
Blocking Statutes ,
EU ,
FATF ,
France ,
Germany ,
INSTEX ,
International Atomic Energy Agency ,
Iran ,
Iran Sanctions ,
Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) ,
Special Purpose Vehicles ,
UK ,
United Nations
On January 28, 2019, the Department of the Treasury's Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) designated Petróleos de Venezuela, S.A. (PdVSA) on the List of Specially Designated Nationals and Blocked Persons (SDN List). PdVSA...more
2/11/2019
/ Banking Sector ,
Blocked Person ,
Coercion ,
Dispute Resolution ,
Economic Sanctions ,
Executive Orders ,
Financial Institutions ,
Foreign Policy ,
GATT ,
General Licenses ,
Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) ,
Oil & Gas ,
Petroleum ,
SDN List ,
Trade Restrictions ,
Trump Administration ,
Venezuela ,
WTO
On January 27, 2019, the US Department of the Treasury's Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) lifted sanctions imposed on En+ Group plc (En+), UC Rusal plc (Rusal), and JSC EuroSibEnergo (ESE), removing these entities from...more
On 21 January 2019, the EU adopted the first sanctions measures under its new sanctions framework targeting parties involved in the use and proliferation of chemical weapons introduced in October 2018...more