The Office of Foreign Assets Control this week published previously issued General License O under its Iranian Transactions and Sanctions Regulations. The full text of the license is available in the notice.
The Office of Foreign Assets Control reached a $3.3 million settlement this week with a California-based skincare company and a $175,000 settlement with its former unnamed senior executive for illegal exports to Iran in violation of U.S. sanctions. Murad, owned by multinational company Unilever, worked with distributors in Iran and the United Arab Emirates to ship goods to Iran, leading to at least 62 exports worth more than $11 million, OFAC said.
The Office of Foreign Assets Control amended and replaced its South Sudan Sanctions Regulations to “further implement” a 2014 executive order. The new, “more comprehensive” set of regulations includes “additional interpretive and definitional guidance, general licenses, and other regulatory provisions that will provide further guidance to the public,” OFAC said. The changes take effect May 18.
The Office of Foreign Assets Control this week published a previously issued general license under its Global Magnitsky Sanctions Regulations. The notice includes the full text of the license, which authorizes certain transactions involving Tabacos USA, Tabacalera del Este or any entity they own by 50% or more (see 2303310033).
The Office of Foreign Assets Control this week renewed an authorization for certain Russia-related energy transactions. General License 8G, which replaced GL 8F, authorizes certain transactions with several Russian energy companies through 12:01 a.m. EDT Nov. 1. The license was previously scheduled to expire May 16.
A bill introduced in the Senate last week could create new export authorizations -- including a new open general license for certain defense exports and a new license exception for dual-use goods -- to expedite shipments to Australia, Canada and the U.K. The legislation, introduced by Sens. Jim Risch, R-Idaho, and Bill Hagerty, R-Tenn., also would allow the State Department to hire more export license review officers, create a “fast-track” foreign military sales process, reduce barriers to information sharing within the Australia-U.K.-U.S. partnership and more.
The U.K. issued a General License under its Russia and Belarus sanctions regimes permitting sanctioned individuals and entities to pay legal fees to law firms and counsel. The license took effect on April 29 and permits these payments in relation to any matter, except defamation or malicious falsehood proceedings, until Oct. 28. The license distinguishes between legal services issued pre-listing and post-listing.
The Office of Foreign Assets Control this week issued new General License 42, which authorizes certain transactions involving the IV Venezuelan National Assembly, its “Delegated Commission,” any entity established by the assembly to “exercise its mandate,” or “any person appointed or designated by, or whose appointment or designation is retained by” such an entity. Those transactions include any that are “ordinarily incident and necessary to the negotiation of settlement agreements” involving any debt of the Venezuelan government, its state-owned energy company Petroleos de Venezuela, S.A., or any entity PdVSA owns 50% or more.
The departments of Treasury and State this week sanctioned Russia’s Federal Security Service (FSB) and Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps Intelligence Organization, along with four of its senior officials, for their role in taking hostages and wrongfully detaining U.S. nationals. The sanctions are the first issued under the authority established last year by Executive Order 14078, which allows for sanctions against hostage-takers (see 2207190045).
The Office of Foreign Assets Control issued a notice this week correcting several errors in its sanctions regulations. The changes correct a “typographical error” in the Iranian Transactions and two typographical errors in its Western Balkans Stabilization Regulations. OFAC also said the license incorporates one general license into the Western Balkans Stabilization Regulations. The changes take effect April 27.