This UPDATED post summarizes the situation as of late evening on Monday, March 7, concerning current U.S. sanctions and export restrictions related to Russia and Ukraine...more
3/8/2022
/ Belarus ,
Economic Sanctions ,
Export Controls ,
Foreign Direct Investment ,
General Licenses ,
Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) ,
Russia ,
SDN List ,
South Korea ,
U.S. Commerce Department ,
Ukraine
With a contracting budget approaching $650 billion per year, the United States government is the largest consumer of goods and services globally. In 2020, the federal government spent $145 billion, an equivalent of 26% of its...more
This UPDATED post summarizes the situation as of late evening on Thursday, March 3, concerning current U.S. sanctions and export restrictions related to Russia and Ukraine...more
3/4/2022
/ Asset Freeze ,
Belarus Sanctions ,
Departments of Commerce ,
Economic Sanctions ,
Entity List ,
Export Controls ,
Final Rules ,
Foreign Direct Investment ,
Foreign Relations ,
General Licenses ,
Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) ,
Russia ,
SDN List ,
Ukraine
There have been a relatively limited number of U.S. Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA) enforcement actions in recent years. Nonetheless, two recent announcements (one resolution, one declination) by U.S. regulators...more
This UPDATED post summarizes the situation as of late evening on Monday, February 28, concerning current U.S. sanctions and export restrictions related to Russia and Ukraine. This post supplements our post of late evening on...more
3/1/2022
/ Asset Freeze ,
Banks ,
Biden Administration ,
Economic Sanctions ,
Executive Orders ,
Export Controls ,
Exports ,
Financial Institutions ,
Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) ,
Russia ,
SWIFT ,
Ukraine
This UPDATED post summarizes the situation as of late evening on Friday, February 25, concerning current U.S. sanctions and export restrictions related to Russia and Ukraine. This post supplements our post of late evening on...more
2/28/2022
/ Biden Administration ,
Bureau of Industry and Security (BIS) ,
Economic Sanctions ,
Export Controls ,
Exports ,
Licensing Rules ,
Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) ,
Russia ,
SDN List ,
U.S. Commerce Department ,
Ukraine ,
Vladimir Putin
This UPDATED post summarizes the situation as of late evening on Thursday, February 24, concerning current U.S. sanctions and export restrictions related to Russia and Ukraine. This supplements our post of late evening on...more
On February 22, President Biden issued Executive Order14,024 (the EO), which authorizes the U.S. Treasury Department, Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) to designate Russian and other entities and individuals involved in...more
2/24/2022
/ Biden Administration ,
Economic Sanctions ,
Executive Orders ,
Exports ,
Financial Institutions ,
Foreign Policy ,
Imports ,
Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) ,
Russia ,
SDN List ,
Ukraine
On December 23, 2021, the U.S. Department of the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) and TD Bank, N.A. (TD) reached a settlement to resolve TD’s violations of the North Korea Sanctions Regulations and the...more
On November 10, the U.S. Departments of State, Treasury, and Commerce issued an unusual joint advisory (the “advisory”) on the risk of investing and interacting with certain Cambodian individuals and entities. The advisory is...more
12/8/2021
/ Cambodia ,
Corruption ,
Executive Orders ,
High-Risk Countries ,
Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) ,
Risk Factors ,
Sanctions ,
Trade Restrictions ,
U.S. Commerce Department ,
U.S. Treasury ,
US Department of State
Even well-established companies can struggle to understand and comply with the U.S. laws that govern international trade. The challenges are greater still for new companies with limited experience doing cross-border...more
11/23/2021
/ Business Partners ,
Compliance ,
Cross-Border ,
Early Stage Companies ,
Emerging Growth Companies ,
Export Controls ,
Exports ,
Foreign Business Partners ,
International Trade ,
Startups ,
Technology ,
Third-Party
On October 12, the U.S. Commerce Department, Bureau of Industry and Security (BIS) announced that it imposed a civil penalty fine against VTA Telecom Corporation (VTA) for the unauthorized export of controlled commodities to...more
On September 28, the U.S. Commerce Department, Bureau of Industry and Security (BIS) announced that it has imposed a civil penalty fine and denial of export privileges against Vorago Technologies (Vorago) for the unauthorized...more
On August 3, 2021, the U.S. State Department Directorate of Defense Trade Controls (DDTC) issued an order laying out charges and imposing a monetary penalty of $6.6 million on Keysight Technologies, a U.S. technology and...more
8/20/2021
/ China ,
Commodities ,
Consent Agreements ,
Directorate of Defense Trade Controls (DDTC) ,
Enforcement ,
Export Administration Regulations (EAR) ,
Export Controls ,
Exports ,
ITAR ,
Penalties ,
Russia ,
Software ,
Technology
On February 1, the U.S. Commerce Department, Bureau of Industry & Security (BIS), announced a settlement (available here) with Princeton University in connection with 37 alleged violations of the Export Administration...more
In recent months, the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) and Securities & Exchange Commission (SEC) have announced several notable penalties for violations of the U.S. Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA). The FCPA prohibits...more
1/14/2021
/ Anti-Bribery ,
Bribery ,
Compliance ,
Corruption ,
Criminal Investigations ,
Criminal Penalties ,
Criminal Prosecution ,
Department of Justice (DOJ) ,
Deutsche Bank ,
Enforcement Actions ,
Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA) ,
Penalties ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
Securities Violations
The U.S. government continues to take action in an effort to slow the spread of the COVID-19 virus. In so doing, the government has provided insight into those industries and operations deemed to be essential to U.S....more
Despite the sobering news reports on the global spread of COVID-19, companies are continuing to try to conduct operations as (relatively) normally as possible. International business is particularly affected given the...more
• Actions underscore long arm of U.S. sanctions jurisdiction
• Voluntary disclosures and cooperation can lead to significant penalty reductions
• Facilitation of a violation is treated the same as a direct...more
3/5/2020
/ Civil Liability ,
Civil Monetary Penalty ,
Cooperation ,
Economic Sanctions ,
Enforcement Actions ,
General Licenses ,
Global Terrorism Sanctions Regulations (GTSR) ,
Jurisdiction ,
Myanmar ,
Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) ,
Sanction Violations ,
SDN List ,
Shipping ,
Telecommunications ,
Voluntary Disclosure
In case you missed it, we ended 2019 with a webinar on current topics in U.S. economic sanctions. Below are several key points from the webinar:
Types of sanctions vary. Broad country-based sanctions prohibit transactions...more
Report on Supply Chain Compliance 3, no. 2 (January 23, 2020) -
The U.S. Treasury Department’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC), the primary U.S. government agency that administers U.S. economic sanctions, was busy...more
1/24/2020
/ Aircraft Sales ,
Airlines ,
Apple ,
Aviation Contracts ,
Civil Monetary Penalty ,
Compliance ,
Cross-Border Transactions ,
Economic Sanctions ,
Foreign Narcotics Kingpin Sanctions Regulations (FNKSR) ,
Foreign Suppliers ,
Non-US Entities ,
Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) ,
Penalties ,
Risk Assessment ,
Risk Mitigation ,
Sanction Violations ,
Screening Procedures ,
SDN List ,
Settlement ,
Slovenia ,
Software ,
Sudan ,
Supply Chain ,
Ukraine ,
Voluntary Disclosure
• $2 million penalty against Exxon overturned
• Court concluded that OFAC failed to provide clear notice of violative conduct
• Companies are at risk when acting in context of ambiguous agency guidance
At the end of...more
1/22/2020
/ Civil Monetary Penalty ,
Corporate Counsel ,
Economic Sanctions ,
Enforcement Guidance ,
Executive Orders ,
Exxon Mobil ,
International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA) ,
Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) ,
Oil & Gas ,
Prohibited Transactions ,
Reversal ,
Rosneft ,
Russia ,
Sanction Violations ,
SDN List ,
Ukraine ,
Vacated
• A payment to a government official can take many forms.
• The SEC charges bank for books and records violation even absent a bribery charge.
• Industry-wide enforcement is a continuing tactic for U.S....more
10/24/2019
/ Accounting Controls ,
Banking Sector ,
Banks ,
Books & Records ,
Bribery ,
Enforcement Actions ,
Financial Services Industry ,
Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA) ,
Foreign Official ,
Government Officials ,
Hiring & Firing ,
Internal Controls ,
Internships ,
Quid Pro Quo ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
Settlement Agreements
The U.S. Treasury Department, Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC), the main U.S. government body that administers U.S. economic sanctions and embargoes, continues to be busy. In September 2019 alone, OFAC has announced...more
9/27/2019
/ China ,
Economic Sanctions ,
Executive Orders ,
Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA) ,
Iran ,
Iran Sanctions ,
Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) ,
SDN List ,
Settlement Agreements ,
Sudan ,
Trade Relations ,
Trump Administration ,
Unfair or Deceptive Trade Practices ,
Venezuela
• Virtually all transactions with government prohibited
• Most transactions with private sector parties still permitted
• Practical challenges make Venezuela transactions difficult, including for non-U.S. parties
On...more