The Office of Foreign Assets Control this week sanctioned 21 security and Cabinet-level officials with ties to the Nicolas Maduro regime in Venezuela for supporting Maduro’s efforts to “fraudulently declare himself” the victor of the country’s July presidential election (see 2407290044 and 2310180070). The designations target members of Venezuela's security forces and government agencies that have helped to repress dissenting voices and maintain Maduro’s control over the country. Bradley Smith, Treasury’s undersecretary for terrorism and financial intelligence, said the agency will “continue to shine a light on those who seek to use violence and intimidation to undermine democratic governance and the legitimate exercise of free speech.”
A key portion of the conference hosted earlier this month by the Committee on Foreign Investment in the U.S. focused on the committee’s increasing scrutiny of fund structures and identifying the roles of limited partners in investment transactions, law firms said this month.
Laura Perkins, former assistant chief of the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act Unit at DOJ, has joined Cadwalader Wickersham as a partner, the firm announced. Perkins worked at DOJ from 2007 to 2015 and was most recently a lawyer with Hughes Hubbard.
Ocean carrier ZIM Integrated Shipping Services unfairly charged more than $136,000 in fees for a cargo container that spent more than 20 months in detention, Baylink Shipping said in a complaint filed with the Federal Maritime Commission.
Recently passed U.K. legislation gives the country’s top sanctions agency greater intelligence-gathering and enforcement powers, Crowell & Moring said in a November client alert, and could allow it to process license applications more efficiently.
Hours after President-elect Donald Trump said he would impose a 25% tariff on imports from Canada and Mexico until they take steps to address drugs and migrants crossing the border, Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum warned that she might retaliate with her own set of trade restrictions.
China’s Foreign Ministry objected to a new set of export controls the U.S. is reportedly planning to announce in the coming days, saying it’s opposed to the “U.S. overstretching the concept of national security, abusing export control measures and making malicious attempts to block and suppress China.” A ministry spokesperson told reporters Nov. 25 that the new controls would disrupt international trade and global supply chains. “China will take resolute measures to firmly defend the legitimate and lawful rights and interests of Chinese companies,” the spokesperson said.
Amin Betuni of Palos Hills, Illinois, was sentenced to nearly four years in prison for illegally exporting firearm parts to Israel, the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Northern District of Illinois announced. Betuni pleaded guilty to shipping firearm parts, including rifle barrels, gas blocks for rifles and bolt carrier groups, to individuals in Israel "on at least three occasions in 2022," the U.S. Attorney's Office said.
Sen. Rick Scott, R-Fla., urged the Biden administration late Nov. 25 to resist a push from House Democrats to remove Cuba from the state sponsors of terrorism list.
The Council of the European Union on Nov. 25 extended its sanctions regime pertaining to Turkey's unauthorized drilling activities in the Eastern Mediterranean in 2019 for another year. The restrictions now run until Nov. 30, 2025.