The Office of Foreign Assets Control on June 17 sanctioned Empresa Nicaraguense de Minas (ENIMINAS), Nicaragua’s state-owned mining company, and Ruy Lopez Delgado, the president of its board of directors. OFAC said the government has used ENIMINAS to solidify its control over Nicaragua’s mining sector and enrich government officials.

The European Commission updated its Frequently Asked Questions pages that cover its Russia sanctions regime. The new sections relate to imports and purchase of goods, sale of securities, execution of prior contracts and export-related restrictions. Under the contracts FAQs, the commission addresses what is a contract, whether framework contracts are considered as contracts that benefit from the prior contracts exception to the sanctions regime, and what is an ancillary contract, among other things. The securities FAQs cover whether the sanctions apply to transferable securities issued by private companies and whether the sanctions cover the sale of transferable securities to non-Russian entities that are owned by a Russian national, among other scenarios.

The U.K. in two June 16 notices added entries to its sanctions regimes on Russia and Myanmar. Under the Russia sanctions list, the Office of Financial Sanctions Implementation sanctioned 12 people and corrected one entry. Under the Myanmar sanctions list, OFSI added six entries.

The Office of Foreign Assets Control sanctioned a network of Iranian petrochemical producers, as well as front companies in China and the United Arab Emirates. The front companies support Triliance and PCC, which broker sales of Iranian petrochemicals to China and East Asia, circumventing sanctions, OFAC said in a June 16 press release. The agency sanctioned two people and nine entities.

Sanctions regimes over the last 20 years have become broader and more comprehensive, which has created unintended consequences for industry and “ordinary people,” said Erica Moret, a senior researcher at the Geneva Graduate Institute, speaking during a June 16 virtual conference hosted by the Center for a New American Security. She said countries should look to narrow their sanctions measures and provide clear exemptions or risk further over-compliance.

The U.K. made took sanctions actions June 14, amending or correcting entries under its Iran (Nuclear), Russia, and ISIL and al-Qaida sanctions regimes. Under the Iran sanctions list, the Office of Financial Sanctions Implementation amended the entry for Parvis Fatah, an officer of the Iran Revolutionary Guard Corps. Under the Russia sanctions regime, OFSI amended 39 entries and corrected an additional three, still subjecting all entries to an asset freeze. The 39 entries consist of 23 individuals and 16 entities and include military officials, businesspeople and media figures. The three corrected entries are for Ilya Kiva, former member of the Ukrainian parliament; Maxim Alekseevich Parshin, member of the Donetsk People's Council; and Ooo Volga Group. For the ISIL sanctions list, OFSI amended listing information for Mochammad Achwan, Taha Ibrahim Abdallah Bakr Al Khuwayt, Amir Muhammad Sa'id Abdal-Rahman Al-Salbi, Mounir Ben Dhaou Ben Brahim Ben Helal, Muhammad Sholeh Ibrahim and Aris Sumarsono.

The Swiss Federal Council announced June 10 that it will adopt the EU's sixth Russian sanctions package, which includes a ban on Russian oil imports. The sanctions package also designates over 100 Russian and Belarusian individuals and entities, making the Swiss sanctions list identical to the EU's; removes four Russian and Belarusian banks from SWIFT, the interbank payment and messaging system; and expands the export ban on goods that could aid Russia's military.

The Office of Foreign Assets Control designated Stanislav Shevchuk and Alexander Zhuchkovsky, two "key supporters" of the ethnically motivated violent extremist group known as the Russian Imperial Movement, according to a June 15 notice.

The U.K. released guidance on how it collects data on its Russia sanctions regime. The Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office published sections on the sanctions' legislation, data collected "post invasion," individual designations, estimates of oligarchs' net worths, oligarchs' family members and sanctions on entities.

The U.K.'s Office of Financial Sanctions Implementation released a General License June 10 permitting certain activity for retail banking services. The license permits non-designated individuals to use retail banking services of a sanctioned Russian or Belarusian credit or financial institution if the payments are made or received are meant for that individual's personal use and the total value of the payments made June 10 to Sept. 10 doesn't exceed $60,000. The license permits such action until Sept. 10. A relevant institution can process these payments, the license said.