The Office of Foreign Assets Control this week issued a maximum $4.67 million fine against a real estate investor for mortgaging, renovating, and selling a real estate property owned by a sanctioned Russian oligarch’s family member.
The Swedish Police Authority suspects that "extensive" violations of Russia sanctions are being committed by companies indirectly exporting products from Sweden to Russia through third countries, the agency said in a notice last week.
EU foreign ministers last week stressed that the bloc should prioritize new designations of Russian shadow fleet ships and their operators in future Russia-related sanctions packages, according to an EU summary of a Nov. 20 Foreign Affairs Council meeting. "Ministers shared the opinion that going after Russia's shadow fleet should remain a priority for the EU and that work on imposing further restrictive measures on the shadow fleet should continue."
A bill that would require U.S. manufacturers of advanced AI chips to make their products available to American firms before selling them to China “is pretty common sense,” said Daniel Remler, a former State Department official.
House Foreign Affairs Committee Chairman Brian Mast, R-Fla., said Nov. 20 that he supports a proposal that would require U.S. manufacturers of advanced AI chips to make their products available to American firms before selling them to China and other U.S. arms embargoed countries.
Australia last week sanctioned Russian-based Media Land and ML.Cloud, along with key officials Aleksandr Volosovik and Kirill Zatolokin, for operating as cybercrime service providers. "These organisations have provided their ransomware infrastructure to malicious cyber actors and cybercriminals, allowing them to conduct cyber attacks in Australia and around the world," the country said. It added that the designations were coordinated with the U.S. and the U.K., which also sanctioned the two groups last week (see 2511190012).
The Office of Foreign Assets Control issued a new general license Nov. 21 that authorizes certain transactions with Paks II Civil Nuclear Power Plant, a Hungary-based power plant made with certain Russian-origin technology. General License 132 allows certain transactions involving the plant and 12 Russian banks and financial institutions, including Gazprombank, Sovcombank, Russia's National Clearing Center and the Central Bank of Russia. The license has no expiration date.
The U.S. arrested two U.S. citizens and two Chinese nationals last week after accusing them of using a purported Florida real estate firm, an Alabama distributor and nearly $4 million in wire transfers to buy and illegally export “cutting edge” chips to China.
The U.S. should work with its allies to increase export restrictions on semiconductor manufacturing equipment (SME), components and services to limit China’s ability to make computing chips, former government officials told lawmakers Nov. 20.
Rep. Michael McCaul, R-Texas, chairman emeritus of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, said Nov. 20 that he plans to introduce a bill to place subsidiaries on the Bureau of Industry and Security’s Entity List if they're owned 50% or more by companies on that list.