The U.K. adopted new financial and trade sanctions against Russia Dec. 15, barring the provision of trust services to, or for the benefit of, a designated individual or entity, and the provision of new trust services to or for the benefit of, a person connected with Russia. The restrictions further amend existing sanctions on securities or money market instruments and loans and credit arrangements to a person linked to Russia, as well as suspend the Bank of England's duty to "make a decision in respect of a notification of third-country resolution action in respect of designated persons or persons owned or controlled by designated persons."
The Office of Foreign Assets Control designated 18 entities related to Russia's financial services sector, according to a Dec. 15 press release. The State Department also issued a set of Russia sanctions, primarily targeting oligarch Vladimir Potanin, three members of his immediate family and his business network, the department said in a Dec. 15 press release.
The U.K.’s Office of Financial Sanctions Implementation notified industry this week that it has removed an expired general license that authorized certain energy payments related to Russia’s Gazprombank. The license took effect in April and expired in October.
The Office of Foreign Assets Control this week renewed a general license that authorizes certain transactions related to safety and environmental measures for certain sanctioned vessels. General License 21A, which replaces GL 21, is valid through 12:01 a.m. Jan. 14. The license was scheduled to expire Dec. 15 (see 2211150053). OFAC also amended one of its frequently asked questions, FAQ 1097, to reflect the renewal.
The Bureau of Industry and Security should have given its technical advisory committees more time to review its new chip controls before they were published in October (see 2210070049), which would have helped BIS mitigate unintended consequences for a dense and complex set of restrictions, a chip industry official and an advisory committee member said this week. The semiconductor industry also wished BIS had first proposed some of the restrictions for public comment before making them final, the official said, or delayed the effective date to give companies more time to decipher the rules, especially surrounding the new U.S.-persons restrictions.
The Office of Foreign Assets Controls designated Chinese fishing companies Dalian Ocean Fishing and Pingtan Marine Enterprise and their respective leaders, Li Zhenyu and Xinrong Zhuo, along with eight other affiliated entities and 157 vessels for serious human rights abuses related to Illegal, unreported and unregulated (IUU) fishing in violation of the Global Magnitsky Human Rights Accountability Act, according to a Dec. 9 news release.
The State Department’s Directorate of Defense Trade Controls completed an interagency review for a final rule related to certain license exemptions for allies. The rule, received by the Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs Dec. 2 and completed Dec. 8, would amend the International Traffic in Arms Regulations’ Supplement No. 1 to Part 126 “in support of allies.” DDTC in July announced an open general license pilot to authorize reexports and retransfers of certain defense items and services to Australia, Canada and the U.K. (see 2207190008).
The U.K. recently released four general licenses pertaining to its recent price cap on Russian oil. The first license, "Oil Price Cap: Exempt Projects and Countries," permits the supply Russian oil in certain scenarios. One such instance is the supply of Russian oil from the Sakhalin-2 Project from a place in Russia to a place in Japan, which is permitted through Sept. 29.
The State Department’s Directorate of Defense Trade Controls sent a final rule for interagency review related to certain license exemptions for allies. The rule, received by the Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs Dec. 2, would amend the International Traffic in Arms Regulations’ Supplement No. 1 to Part 126 “in support of allies.” DDTC in July announced an open general license pilot to authorize reexports and retransfers of certain defense items and services to Australia, Canada and the U.K. (see 2207190008).
The G-7, the EU and Australia officially set a price cap on Russian oil Dec. 5, imposing certain service and shipping restrictions on oil originating in Russia and trading above $60 per barrel. The cap comes into force after months of discussions between the nations, including the announcement of a future cap by the countries in September (see 2209020033), and aims to restrict revenue to Russia as it continues its war in Ukraine.