The U.S. this week sanctioned Genesis Market, one of the world’s “largest illicit marketplaces,” for illegally selling stolen data, including usernames and passwords. The marketplace is “believed” to be based in Russia, the Office of Foreign Assets Control said, where it operates as one of the “most prominent brokers of stolen credentials and other sensitive information,” including information from U.S. and international companies. Cybercriminals also have used Genesis Market to target the U.S. government, OFAC said.
The Office of the U.S. Trade Representative released its 2023 National Trade Estimate Report on Foreign Trade Barriers, highlighting the most significant foreign market issues U.S. exporters are facing. The report focuses on foreign import policies, technical barriers to trade, intellectual property protection, competition, and more.
China has asked the World Trade Organization to review semiconductor export controls recently announced by Japan, saying the “harmful” measures violate WTO rules. Beijing also lodged a broader complaint against the reported chip control deal agreed to by the U.S., the Netherlands and Japan, saying it should be made public and scrutinized by WTO members.
The Office of Foreign Assets Control this week sanctioned Lebanese brothers Raymond Zina Rahme and Teddy Zina Rahme, along with their companies, for corruption and other activities that “contribute to the breakdown of the rule of law in Lebanon.” OFAC said the brothers use United Arab Emirates-based ZR Energy DMCC and Lebanon-based ZR Group Holding SAL and ZR Logistics SAL to win government contracts through a “highly opaque public tendering process.”
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The U.S. should be preparing a strategy to make sure it leads in the next generation of advanced semiconductor technologies, said Romesh Wadhwani, founder of investment firm Symphony Technology Group. Wadhwani also said the funding included in the Chips Act is a good start, but likely won’t be enough to remain ahead of China and shield U.S. supply chains from geopolitical risks.
The European Council carved out a humanitarian exemption to asset-freezing measures under U.N. sanctions regimes. Certain humanitarian actors, including U.N. programs and nongovernmental organizations, can now "engage in transactions with listed individuals and entities without any prior authorisation" if the action is for delivering humanitarian aid, the council said March 31. The council decision applied the exemption to 14 U.N. sanctions regimes "transposed into" EU law.
The Office of Foreign Assets Control on April 3 migrated its website to a new domain and launched a redesign of the site, featuring a new “streamlined” landing page, an “enhanced” frequently asked questions search tool, a filter for its sanctions program search and more. The agency said it plans to make “continued improvements to its site in the months and years ahead” and encouraged users to submit feedback by emailing O_F_A_C@treasury.gov.
DOJ is seeking the forfeiture of over 1 million rounds of ammunition, thousands of proximity fuses for rocket-propelled grenades and thousands of pounds of propellant for rocket-propelled grenades that it said the U.S. Navy seized en route to militant groups in Yemen from Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps. Filing a complaint March 31 in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia, DOJ said the action is part of an effort "to enforce U.S. sanctions against the IRGC and the Iranian regime" and the claims are "merely allegations."
Senate Republicans last week reintroduced a bill that would condition the removal of U.S. sanctions against Venezuela on “specific democratic progress.” The Venezuelan Democracy Act, first introduced in December (see 2212210005), would maintain sanctions on Venezuela “until there is a transition to democracy” and would require the U.S. to assess whether President Nicolas Maduro's regime should be designated a Foreign Terrorist Organization or a Specially Designated Global Terrorist. The administration also would have to submit quarterly reports to Congress on “specific licenses granted” to people and companies “engaging with sanctioned persons,” along with a report on “foreign persons doing business with sanctioned persons in Venezuela.”