The Office of Foreign Assets Control designated two MS-13 leaders in Central America for actions related to drug trafficking and contract killing, according to a Feb. 8 news release.
The Office of Foreign Assets Control this week published a new Russia-related frequently asked question providing guidance on Russian securities transferring through inheritance. FAQ 1113 explains that investment prohibitions under executive orders 14066, 14068 and 14071 don't prevent securities issued by non-blocked Russian entities from transferring to their beneficiaries as long as those transfers are "part of the ordinary course administration of the decedent’s estate," don't "involve an exchange for value," and "have no other sanctions nexus." Blocked securities in an estate, however, remain blocked and require a specific license from OFAC to transfer.
The Biden administration’s implementation of its new China chip export controls (see 2210070049) has been “mixed,” and it remains unclear how far allies will go to impose similar restrictions, said Clete Willems, who was a National Security Council official during the Trump administration. Willems, in written testimony this week to the House Financial Services Committee, said he doesn’t understand why the administration didn’t initially coordinate the October export control rule with allies, a shortcoming that could be hurting U.S. companies now.
The U.S. and its allies should establish a new multilateral export control system to prevent sensitive technologies from being sent to dangerous end-users, including those in China, said Rich Ashooh, a former senior U.S. export control official. Ashooh applauded American efforts so far and said it shouldn’t abandon the existing multilateral control regimes, but he said a more formal system is needed.
A group of European countries not in the EU aligned with a recent EU sanctions decision concerning Iran. On Jan. 23, the European Council amended the list of individuals and entities subject to the restrictions. In response, North Macedonia, Montenegro, Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Liechtenstein and Norway also imposed the decision, the council said.
The EU is readying its 10th package of sanctions against Russia following its invasion of Ukraine, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen announced in a Feb. 3 statement following the EU-Ukraine summit. Aiming to have the sanctions package imposed by the Feb. 24 one-year anniversary of the war, the EU reportedly will focus on technology that Russia's military could use and on reducing sanctions circumvention.
Amid lobbying from the U.S. to take a tougher stance on China, Japan plans to introduce new export controls on advanced semiconductor technology and manufacturing equipment this spring, The Japan Times reported Feb. 5. The country will specifically place new restrictions on chip technology used for military applications, the report said, and will first solicit feedback from industry and others. The new regulations “will not explicitly name China” because Japan doesn’t want to “trigger retaliatory measures,” the report said. The U.S. reportedly concluded talks with Japan and the Netherlands in January after months of lobbying both governments to impose tougher export controls on chip-related items destined to China (see 2301270002).
Vladimir Voronchenko, a Russian citizen and legal permanent resident of the U.S., was charged with participating in a scheme to net over $4 million to maintain four properties in the U.S. owned by sanctioned oligarch Viktor Vekselberg, DOJ announced. Voronchenko also tried to sell two of the properties.
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Although former national security officials agreed that the U.S. should consider outbound investment review restrictions, they panned a congressional proposal that would have granted a new interagency committee “sweeping” power to restrict capital flows to China. Speaking during a House Financial Services Committee hearing this week, some of the former officials said Congress should rethink the proposal and also urged the Biden administration against issuing a unilateral executive order to establish an outbound investment review regime.