Aerojet Rocketdyne, a rocket and missile propulsion manufacturer, settled a claim with the Department of Justice over whether the company did not allow a lawful permanent resident of the U.S. to apply for a position due to his immigration status. Aerojet violated the Immigration and Nationality Act's anti-discrimination provision when the company considered only U.S. citizens for 12 mechanic roles in Jupiter, Florida, without proper justification, DOJ said in a May 17 news release. Aerojet manufactures and sells advanced propulsion and energetics systems that are subject to federal regulations such as the International Traffic in Arms Regulations and Export Administration Regulations for its contracting work with the U.S. government and foreign companies.
The Office of Foreign Assets Control amended the Terrorism List Governments Sanctions Regulations to reflect the U.S. decision to revoke Sudan’s designation as a state sponsor of terrorism (see 2012170015, 2101140018 and 2104120030). The final rule, effective May 20, removes a general license from the regulations and amends another license to remove references to the Sudanese government and Sudanese nationals.
President Joe Biden’s nominee to be the State Department’s assistant secretary for Western hemisphere affairs vowed to aggressively sanction human rights violators and said more can be done to stop sanctions evasion tactics. The nominee, Brian Nichols, also told the Senate Foreign Relations Committee May 19 that the agency should coordinate closely with the Treasury Department and voiced support for some of the agency’s Cuba restrictions.
The European Council is extending restrictive measures against cyberattacks until May 18, 2022, it said in a May 17 news release. With a current listing of eight individuals and four entities, the sanctions regime targets persons or entities that assist cyberattacks against the European Union or its member states. The restrictions include an asset freeze and travel ban and have been in place since 2017.
The United Kingdom's Office of Financial Sanctions Implementation added Myanmar Gems Enterprise to its sanctions list, a May 17 financial sanctions notice said. The sanctions are related to Myanmar's February military coup and subsequent crackdown on protesters. OFSI believes that MGE is controlled by Myanmar's State Administration Council, which oversees the governance of ministries and actively undermines democracy in the Southeast Asian nation, the listing said.
The Treasury Department hasn’t found evidence of any foreign banks facilitating “significant transactions” for the Hong Kong officials sanctioned by the U.S. under the Hong Kong Autonomy Act, the agency said in a report released to Congress May 18. Treasury said it will “continue to actively monitor” for those transactions and said it has held “constructive conversations” with other nations about sanctions risks associated with China and Hong Kong. The agency also said it told foreign banks that it is willing to “engage further” with them about their potential sanctions exposure. Treasury released similar findings and statements in its report last year (see 2012140011).
The Office of Foreign Assets Control extended a general license authorizing certain transactions involving securities of companies that “closely” match the name of a company identified as a Chinese military company (see 2011130026), a May 18 notice said. General License No. 1B, which replaced General License No. 1A (see 2101270009), authorizes the transactions through 9:30 a.m. EDT June 11 and past the previous expiration date of May 27.
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China’s latest export control compliance guidelines closely mirror U.S. guidance and provide significant new insight into how the country will interpret its export control law (ECL) (see 2011030033 and 2010190033), law firms said. Companies operating in China may find that their U.S. compliance programs translate well to China’s rules, the firms said, which now include guidance for risk assessments, reporting procedures and audits.
New European Union export controls on dual-use goods meant to promote human rights have the effect of shifting legislative authority from a member state's legislative body to its regulatory arm, Sheppard Mullin said in a May 14 analysis. Officially passed on March 26, the human rights export controls allow, among other things, a member state to impose a prohibition on the exports of items not on the Dual-Use Control List for human rights considerations. Subsequently, other member states are also prohibited from making unlicensed exports of these items if they have been notified by the appropriate competent authorities that the items are intended to be used for human rights violations. “In Member States whose legislation does not empower their licensing authorities unilaterally to impose export licensing requirements on new items, the Regulation effectively transfers legislative authority from one organ of Member State government (the legislature) to another (the export licensing authority),” Sheppard Mullin said.