The Office of Foreign Assets Control updated its Russian price cap guidance last week to include information on the recently imposed cap on Russian petroleum products. The measure -- which took effect 12:01 a.m. EST on Feb. 5 -- sets a $45 per barrel cap for petroleum products that trade at a discount to crude, such as naphtha and waste oils, and a $100 per barrel cap on products that trade at a premium to crude, such as motor fuel.
DOJ’s new corporate enforcement policies substantially increase compliance incentives and may lead to more voluntary self-disclosures, law firms said. But they also said much of the new policy will depend on how DOJ implements the changes, and it remains unclear how much of a downstream impact the revisions will have on export control and sanctions cases handled by other agencies.
The global price cap on Russian crude oil is "successfully curtailing" Russia's ability to use oil sales revenue to finance its war in Ukraine, the U.K.'s Office of Financial Sanctions Implementation said Feb. 2. OFSI said the discount "between Russia’s flagship crude oil grade and global benchmarks" increased by more than 50% since November to around $40.
The Bureau of Industry and Security suspended the export privileges of an Illinois resident for illegally exporting controlled equipment to Pakistan, the agency said in an order last week. BIS said Obaidullah Syed was convicted May 17, 2022, of conspiring to export computers, computer systems and “associated equipment” from the U.S. to the Pakistan Atomic Energy Commission without a Commerce Department license (see 2205200033). Syed was sentenced to one year and one day in prison, one year and one day of supervised release, a $100 assessment and a forfeiture of $247,000. BIS suspended Syed’s export privileges for 10 years from the conviction date.
Rep. Michael McCaul, R-Texas, chair of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, announced the committee's leaders last week, including Vice Chair Ann Wagner, R-Mo. McCaul said he looks forward to working with them and committee Democrats “to pass meaningful legislation that prioritizes national security and strengthens our relationships with key allies, while conducting vital oversight of the Biden administration.” One oversight effort will include a review of the Bureau of Industry and Security’s export control licensing decisions and policies (see 2210030068, 2301190055 and 2301300052).
The Commerce Department may be considering approving an export license for assault-style or sniper semi-automatic rifles to Azerbaijan despite the “credible allegations of atrocities” that Azerbaijan has committed for years against Armenians, said Sen. Robert Menendez, D-N.J., who chairs the Senate Foreign Relations Committee. In a Feb. 1 letter to Secretary Gina Raimondo, Menendez said Commerce should deny the license or explain how it plans to ensure the weapons don't contribute to killings and other human rights violations.
The U.N. Security Council last week amended 29 entries on its ISIL (Da'esh) and al-Qaida sanctions list. The changes revise or include additional identifying information for people and entities associated with the terrorist groups.
The Office of Foreign Assets Control last week revised the entry for one person on its Specially Designated Nationals List who was sanctioned for counter-terrorism reasons. The change updates identifying information for Ali Reza Tangsiri, an Iranian national linked to the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps and subject to secondary sanctions (see 1906240046).
Senior Treasury Department sanctions officials traveled to the United Arab Emirates last week to speak with government officials about sanctions evasion and anti-terrorism financing, the agency said in a Feb. 2 news release. Brian Nelson, Treasury’s undersecretary for terrorism and financial intelligence, and Bradley Smith, deputy director of the Office of Foreign Assets Control, spoke about “rooting out evasion of U.S. sanctions, particularly on Russia and Iran,” the agency said. They also discussed the U.S. “commitment to take additional actions against those evading or facilitating the evasion of sanctions.”
The Office of Foreign Assets Control this week designated eight senior executives of Paravar Pars -- an Iranian company that manufactures Shahed-series unmanned aerial vehicles for Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps Aerospace Force -- and two Iranian naval vessels. The sanctions target Paravar Pars' board members, including CEO Hossein Shamsabadi, and the vessels Iris Makran and Iris Dena, an oil tanker serving as a UAV maintenance ship and an escorting frigate, respectively.