A United Kingdom bank was fined more than £20 million by the U.K.’s Office of Financial Sanctions Implementation for violating Ukraine-related sanctions, OFSI said in a notice released March 31. OFSI said Standard Chartered Bank (SCB) made more than 100 loans to Denizbank A.S., which is owned by Russia-based Sberbank, an entity sanctioned by the European Union. While some of the loans qualified for an EU exemption under the sanctions regime, about 70 of the loans did not qualify. OFSI estimated the value of the 70 loans at about $290 million and deemed the case “most serious.”
The European Council gave its final approval for a free trade agreement between the European Union and Vietnam (see 1906260068), saying it expects the deal to take effect this summer, according to a March 30 press release. The EU said it is awaiting ratification from Vietnam’s National Assembly. The deal is the “most ambitious free trade agreement ever concluded with a developing country,” Gordan Grlić Radman, minister for foreign and European affairs of Croatia, said in a statement.
The U.S. is renewing the authority to sanction foreign “malicious cyber-enabled activities,” the White House said March 30. The sanctions, which were renewed for one year beyond April 1, 2020, authorize the U.S. to block assets of people and entities involved in certain cyber attacks under the International Emergency Economic Powers Act.
The U.S. renewed several sanctions waivers (see 1905030044) to allow European, Chinese and Russian companies to continue working on Iranian nuclear facilities, the State Department said in a March 30 notice. The announcement will allow work to continue at Arak heavy-water research reactor, the Bushehr nuclear power plant, the Tehran Research Reactor and “other nuclear initiatives” despite U.S. sanctions, according to a March 30 Reuters report. The State Department renewed the waivers for 60 days.
Rosneft, the U.S.-sanctioned Russian energy company, has stopped operating in Venezuela and sold “all of its interest” in Venezuelan businesses, the company said March 28. Rosneft said it will no longer participate in “joint ventures” with Venezuelan entities “as well as oil-field services companies, commercial and trading operations.” The company’s announcement came weeks after the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control sanctioned Rosneft subsidiaries for operating in Venezuela (see 2002180033 and 2003120033). Rosneft has criticized U.S. sanctions, calling them illegal and saying in February it was seeking “legal protection” (see 2002210022).
The European Union renewed sanctions against Libya, the EU said in a March 30 notice. The sanctions were extended for six months.
The World Trade Organization recently updated a guidance detailing how the COVID-19 pandemic is impacting world trade, saying every WTO member is “free” to impose export controls on key medical supplies. However, the WTO stressed that international trade is “crucial to ensuring access to medicines and other medical products,” and said members should not impose controls that “discriminate” or “constitute a disguised restriction.” The guidance also contains an updated list of member notifications to the WTO that detail export control actions and other trade measures to combat the spread of the coronavirus and the disease it causes. Several countries have said they are committed to keeping trade lanes open and stressed the importance of refraining from imposing export controls during the pandemic (see 2003260029).
Export Compliance Daily is providing readers with some of the top stories for March 23-27 in case you missed them.
The European Union will suspend certain import duties and customs penalties, and is “strongly” encouraging traders to only apply for “essential customs declarations,” due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the European Commission said in a March 30 guidance. In the guidance, the EU presented measures intended to ease burdens for European customs agents, postal operators and couriers, who are “struggling to cope” with trade operations, especially the large number of imported e-commerce goods. The measures also ease time pressures on customs officials and industry by extending deadlines for approving customs declarations.
Thompson Hine hired Francesca Guerrero, previously with Winston & Strawn, as a partner in the firm's International Trade practice, it said in a news release. “Guerrero brings to the firm extensive experience advising companies on compliance with export controls, sanctions, import regulations, and the U.S. Foreign Corrupt Practices Act,” the firm said.