President Joe Biden on Dec. 22 signed an executive order that expands U.S. sanctions authorities against foreign financial institutions facilitating “significant transitions” involving Russia’s military industrial base. The order authorizes new sanctions against banks facilitating those transactions on behalf of certain already-designated parties and it allows the U.S. to sanction banks facilitating sales of certain “critical items” to Russia, the White House said in a fact sheet.
The oil shipping industry will soon be required to comply with new attestation and record-keeping rules as part of the global price cap on Russian oil, the Treasury Department said in an updated price cap guidance released Dec. 20. The agency also issued new sanctions against a Russian government-controlled ship manager and other traders who frequently transport Russian oil above the price cap.
The U.S. this week sanctioned more than 250 people and companies supplying Russia’s military in violation of U.S. sanctions and export controls, targeting procurement networks in China, Turkey, the United Arab Emirates and elsewhere. The Treasury and State departments said many of the newly sanctioned companies supplied Russia with goods listed on the Commerce Department’s list of common high-priority items, including electronic components, while others sold Russia advanced weapons and military technology.
The U.K.'s Office of Financial Sanctions Implementation on Dec. 8 issued a new general license allowing sanctioned parties to pay certain U.K. government taxes and fees. Parties acting on behalf of the sanctioned people or entities may also make these payments. Parties making these payments must report the details of the payment within 14 days of making the payment to OFSI. The license took effect Dec. 9.
The Office of Foreign Assets Control this week sanctioned 11 companies and eight people connected to the Alexander Lukashenko-led government in Belarus and what OFAC said is its “brutal suppression” of civil society, corruption and complicity in Russia’s war against Ukraine. The designations target various state-controlled firms and others supporting the Lukashenko regime.
The Office of Foreign Assets Control last week sanctioned three companies and three vessels for violating the Group of 7 price cap on Russian crude oil. The agency also issued a new general license authorizing certain safety and environmental-related transactions involving those vessels.
The U.K. last week renewed a Russia-related general license that authorizes certain transactions tied to payments that have been processed by a sanctioned credit or financial institution at some point in the payment chain. The license applies when the sanctioned party acted as an original, correspondent or intermediary institution where the recipient institution and the institution that sent the payment are not designated parties, among other conditions. The license, which was scheduled to expire Dec. 1 (see 2310020016), now lasts through Dec. 14.
The Office of Foreign Assets Control this week published four previously issued general licenses under its Russian Harmful Foreign Activities Sanctions Regulations. The full text of each license is available in the notice.
The Office of Foreign Assets Control this week issued two updated Venezuela-related general licenses, including one that renews the current authorization for certain transactions with the country’s state-owned energy company and another that updated the authorization for certain transactions with the country’s flagship airline.
The U.S. and the U.K. this week released a new round of sanctions against people and entities helping to finance the terror group Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad. The designations target various PIJ and Hamas officials, a Lebanon-based money exchange company and others.