Paul Marquardt joined Davis Polk as a partner in its Washington, D.C.-based Financial Institutions Group, the firm announced in a June 14 news release. Marquardt previously led the foreign investment and national security practice at Cleary Gottlieb, where he worked with the Treasury Department's Office of Foreign Assets Control and the Commerce Department's Bureau of Industry and Security.
John Demers, the President Donald Trump-appointed official at the head of the Department of Justice's national security division, is leaving by his post at the end of June, a DOJ spokesperson said. The Biden administration has nominated former Uber executive Matt Olsen to replace him. Olsen is awaiting Senate confirmation. A DOJ spokesperson confirmed that Demers' departure had been pre-planned for months with June being the ultimate cutoff time for him to leave the division. Demers was originally slated to leave his role on inauguration day but was asked to stay on to aid with the transition. The national security division handles many security-related issues, from counterterrorism to export controls.
The European Parliament published its new tools to address trade risks in dual-use items in the June 11 Official Journal of the European Union. The regulation addresses trade risks for emerging technologies and goods that could be involved in cybersurveillance. The 460-plus-page regulation, approved May 20, includes stricter controls for cybersurveillance technology that may be used for human rights abuses, new general export licenses to authorize shipments of cryptographic items and certain “intra-group technology transfers,” and mechanisms for greater coordination between members and with trading partners (see 2105100013).
China passed a law implementing new tools to fight foreign sanctions, the National People's Congress said in a June 11 news release. The law includes three countermeasures to foreign sanctions: banning entry to China and deportation, seizing property in China and barring transactions between a listed individual or entity and organizations or individuals in China. The Chinese government may take “other necessary measures” to counter sanctions, it said. The law is meant to “counter, fight and oppose unilateral sanctions on China imposed by foreign countries, safeguard its national sovereignty, security and development interests as well as to protect the legitimate rights and interests of Chinese citizens and organizations,” the release said.
Republicans on the House Foreign Affairs Committee said the State Department must submit to Congress any new deal reached with Iran over its nuclear commitments and allow lawmakers to “review and assess” it. The lawmakers said a potential U.S. return to the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action would “clearly” constitute a new deal and would require congressional review under the Iran Nuclear Agreement Review Act of 2015.
The State Department designated former Namibian government officials Bernhardt Esau and Sakeus Shanghala for involvement in corruption, the agency said June 15. The State Department said they “undermined” the Namibian public’s faith in their government’s democratic institutions and used their political influence for their own benefit. The agency also sanctioned Esau's wife, Swamma, and his son, Philippus.
Export Compliance Daily is providing readers with the top stories for June 7-11 in case you missed them. You can find any article by searching on the title or by clicking on the hyperlinked reference number.
Following reports that China is continuing to buy U.S.-made DNA equipment despite U.S. export restrictions, Rep. Michael McCaul, R-Texas, said the Bureau of Industry and Security needs to strengthen its controls.
The European General Court annulled the sanctions designations of two individuals -- former Ukrainian President Viktor Fedorovych Yanukovych and his son, Oleksandr Viktorovych Yanukovych, according to two court decisions last week. The listings were dropped because the European Council had not “satisfied itself” that the Ukrainian authorities afforded the listed individuals proper rights of defense and judicial protection in the criminal proceedings on which the council relied in making its sanctions determination. Both were originally included on the EU's sanctions regime in 2014 as individuals “subject to criminal proceedings in Ukraine to investigate crimes in connection with the embezzlement of Ukrainian State funds and their illegal transfer outside Ukraine.”
Former Commerce Department official Melissa Mannino joined BakerHostetler's International Trade and National Security group as a partner in its Washington office, the firm announced in a June 7 news release. Mannino formerly served in Commerce's Office of Chief Counsel for Industry and Security, including as chief of the Enforcement and Litigation Division. She most recently worked at Wilson Sonsini as a trade lawyer on export controls, economic sanctions and foreign investment issues.