The U.K. on Dec. 5 officially updated guidance for its various sanctions regimes to reflect the passage of legislation earlier this year that gives its sanctions agency greater intelligence-gathering and enforcement powers (see 2411260013). An update to the U.K.’s Russia-related sanctions guidance said the U.K. made a “range of technical changes with the purpose of improving” the Office of Financial Sanctions Implementation’s “ability to gather intelligence on industry’s compliance with financial sanctions, strengthen OFSI’s enforcement powers, enable OFSI to conduct its licensing responsibilities more efficiently, and clarify financial sanctions legislation where there is existing uncertainty.” The country made similar updates to its guidance for sanctions against Belarus, North Korea, Syria, Iran, Venezuela and Myanmar.
Sen. Jerry Moran, R-Kan., introduced a bill this week to delay implementation of the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network’s new beneficial ownership information (BOI) reporting rule by at least a year.
The Census Bureau added two new license codes and revised an existing license code in the Automated Export System this week to reflect the Bureau of Industry and Security's latest export controls on semiconductor manufacturing equipment and high-bandwidth memory (HBM) (see 2412020016).
The U.N. Security Council and the U.K. this week revised three entries on their ISIL (Da’esh) and al-Qaida Sanctions lists to add identifying information or to reflect their death. The changes update the entry for Salim Mustafa Muhammad al-Mansur, who has ties to terrorism and who the U.N. said has been held by the Iraqi intelligence service since 2019 and has been sentenced to death; and Maysar Ali Musa Abdallah al-Juburi, who the U.N. said reportedly died in Syria in April. The council also updated the name for Muthanna Harith Salman al-Dari, who was accused of providing support to the Islamic State group.
Beijing announced new sanctions this week against 13 U.S. companies and six senior executives working in the defense industry for their involvement with arms sales to Taiwan, according to an unofficial translation of a Dec. 5 notice from China’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs. The designations target several drone companies, including Brinc Drones and Kratos UAV Systems, and defense industry officials, including two Raytheon executives. The ministry said the sanctions freeze their Chinese assets and block them from doing certain business with Chinese companies.
The State Department should scale down the International Traffic in Arms Regulations’ brokering reporting rules, which could reduce filing burdens for the defense industry and give the Directorate of Defense Trade Controls more accurate and timely information about ITAR brokering activity, industry officials said this week.
Senate Foreign Relations Committee ranking member Jim Risch, R-Idaho, said Dec. 5 that he will seek to enhance implementation of sanctions under the Global Magnitsky Human Rights Accountability Act when he becomes the panel’s chairman in January.
Jeremy Paner, a former sanctions investigator for the Office of Foreign Assets Control, has joined Hughes Hubbard as a partner in its sanctions, export controls and anti-money laundering practice, the firm announced. Paner worked at OFAC from 2007 to 2013 and was most recently with Squire Patton.
A Chinese national was arrested on Dec. 3 for allegedly conspiring to export firearms, ammunition and other military items to North Korea, the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Central District of California announced. Shenghua Wen, an illegal resident of California, was charged with conspiracy to violate the International Emergency Economic Powers Act and faces a maximum of 20 years in prison.
Sen. Tom Cotton, R-Ark., introduced a bill Dec. 3 to impose sanctions on Chinese police departments that operate in the U.S. or try to do so.