Driven by concerns around increasing sanctions evasion activities by Russia, China, Iran and North Korea, the US Government is stepping up enforcement and warning companies in the extended cargo and shipping supply chain to...more
For the first time, on 12 October 2023, the US Department of the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) imposed sanctions on vessels and their owners for breaching the price cap on seaborne Russian crude oil...more
The United States eased certain economic sanctions against Venezuela on 18 October 2023 in response to the signing of an electoral roadmap agreement between the Maduro regime and Venezuela’s Unitary Platform. Under this...more
On 9 August 2023, President Biden issued a long anticipated executive order imposing certain limitations, reporting requirements, and prohibitions on outbound investment from the United States into certain sensitive industry...more
In a set of actions in coordination with G7 allies, US and UK export control authorities recently announced significant escalations of sanctions and export controls against Russia and Belarus. These actions indicate continued...more
On 8 May 2022, the U.S. Department of the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) issued a Determination pursuant to Executive Order (EO) 14071 (6 April 2022) (the Determination) that prohibits the export,...more
Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and subsequent revelations of alleged atrocities in territories previously controlled by Russia have had a global impact. Dozens of foreign countries (States) have imposed a wide variety of...more
4/20/2022
/ Blocking Sanctions ,
Economic Sanctions ,
EU ,
Financial Transactions ,
Foreign Investment ,
Foreign Policy ,
Popular ,
Russia ,
SDN List ,
Trade Restrictions ,
UK ,
Ukraine
On 6 April 2022, the United States imposed a new round of sanctions on Russia in response to its continued actions in Ukraine. K&L Gates covered previous rounds of sanctions in alerts on 24 February, 25 February, 15 March,...more
4/8/2022
/ Attorney General ,
Banks ,
Biden Administration ,
Blocking Sanctions ,
Economic Sanctions ,
EU ,
Executive Orders ,
Financial Institutions ,
G7 ,
Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) ,
Russia ,
Ukraine
As an update to our previous alerts of 24 February, 25 February, and 15 March, the U.S. Department of the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) on 24 March announced an additional round of sanctions on Russia—one...more
As an update to K&L Gates’ previous alerts of 24 February and 25 February, U.S. President Joe Biden issued two executive orders (EOs) last week imposing additional sanctions against Russia. The first order, EO 14066, issued...more
3/16/2022
/ Belarus ,
Biden Administration ,
Economic Sanctions ,
Energy Sector ,
Executive Orders ,
Export Administration Regulations (EAR) ,
Export Controls ,
Foreign Investment ,
Foreign Policy ,
Imports ,
Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) ,
Trade Restrictions
As an update to K&L Gates’ previous alert on 24 February, U.S. President Joe Biden announced sanctions and export controls against Russia that are in addition to those imposed on the 21st and 22nd of February. This escalation...more
This week, the United States imposed new economic sanctions in response to efforts by the Russian Federation to undermine the sovereignty and territorial integrity of Ukraine. As discussed herein, they consist of: (1) an...more
2/25/2022
/ Blocking Sanctions ,
Economic Sanctions ,
Embargo ,
Export Controls ,
Foreign Policy ,
General Licenses ,
Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) ,
Pipelines ,
Russia ,
SDN List ,
Sovereign Debt ,
Ukraine
On 10 June 2021, the Standing Committee of the National People’s Congress reviewed and approved the Anti-Foreign Sanctions Law (the AFSL), which took effect on the same day. The AFSL was enacted within two months and without...more
On August 6, the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals unsealed its partly redacted decision upholding a civil contempt order against three foreign banks that refused to comply with a subpoena from U.S. authorities to produce bank...more
President Trump signed a new Executive Order on August 5, 2019, Executive Order 13884 (“EO 13884”), which blocks (i.e., freezes) all property of the Venezuelan government and its political subdivisions, agencies, and...more
OVERVIEW -
- Oversight of Foreign Investment & Tech Transfer
- CFIUS Reforms – FIRRMA
- Investment Strategies
FOREIGN INVESTMENT & TECH OVERSIGHT -
- The Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States...more
6/27/2019
/ CFIUS ,
Economic Sanctions ,
Export Control Reform Act (ECRA) ,
Export Controls ,
Exports ,
FIRRMA ,
Foreign Investment ,
Imports ,
Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) ,
National Security ,
Section 232 ,
Section 301 ,
Tariffs ,
Trade Relations ,
US Trade Policies
Overview -
In a major expansion of U.S. sanctions against Venezuela, the Department of the Treasury, Office of Foreign Assets Control (“OFAC”), named Petróleos de Venezuela, S.A. (“PdVSA”)—Venezuela’s state-owned oil and...more
On December 19, 2018, the U.S. Department of the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (“OFAC”) notified Congress of its intent to remove UC Rusal plc (“Rusal”), the major Russian aluminum producer, and two other...more
On May 8, 2018, President Trump formally announced that the United States would cease participation in the Iran nuclear deal, also called the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (“JCPOA”). In accordance with a Presidential...more
5/21/2018
/ Economic Sanctions ,
Exports ,
Foreign Policy ,
Imports ,
Iran ,
Iran Sanctions ,
Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) ,
Nuclear Weapons ,
Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) ,
SDN List ,
Trump Administration
As reported in our prior alert, the Countering America’s Adversaries Through Sanctions Act (“CAATSA”), which was signed into law on August 2, 2017, materially expanded U.S. sanctions against Russia. Notably, the law requires...more
On October 13, 2017, President Trump announced that he was “decertifying” Iran’s compliance with the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (“JCPOA”), the multi-nation agreement on Iran’s nuclear program that was implemented in...more
Effective October 12, the Trump administration revoked the U.S. embargo on Sudan in accordance with Executive Order 13761 (Jan. 13, 2017) and Executive Order 13804 (July 11, 2017). As a result of this action, Sudan and the...more
On August 2, 2017, President Trump signed into law the Countering American’s Adversaries Through Sanctions Act (the “Act”). Passed by overwhelming bipartisan majorities in both Houses of Congress, the Act combines several...more