The White House last week released its digital assets development framework to implement a March executive order aimed to address risks in crypto and other digital marketplaces (see 2203090067). The framework came several months after companies and trade groups told the administration the U.S. should better regulate the cryptocurrency industry to increase sanctions compliance but not in a way that inhibits innovation (see 2208150028).
China last week announced sanctions on two defense industry CEOs for arms sales to Taiwan. The sanctions target Raytheon's Gregory Hayes and Boeing Global Services' Theodore Colbert, after both companies were involved in the Sept. 2 State Department approval of more than $1 billion in arms sales to Taiwan (see 2209060018). The U.S. should “stop arms sales to Taiwan and military contact with Taiwan, and stop creating factors that could lead to tensions in the Taiwan Strait,” a Chinese foreign ministry spokesperson said during a Sept. 16 news conference. A Boeing spokesperson declined to comment, and a Raytheon spokesperson didn’t respond to a request for comment. China in February sanctioned Raytheon and Lockheed Martin under its Anti-Foreign Sanctions Law in response to the companies selling arms to Taiwan (see 2202230013).
A Bureau of Industry and Security official last week confirmed the agency sent letters to specific companies restricting their ability to export certain artificial intelligence-related chips to China, and said more restrictions may be coming. In the agency’s first public comments on the matter, Thea Kendler, BIS’s assistant secretary for export administration, said the agency hopes the letters help inform industry about the types of exports the agency is scrutinizing.
The Bureau of Industry and Security updated its restricted aircraft list by adding three Iranian-owned and operated planes for violating U.S. export controls, the agency said in an emailed news release. BIS said the planes -- which are owned by Mahan Air, Qeshm Fars Air and Iran Air and are the first Iranian aircraft added to the list -- illegally provided flight services to Russia. Certain activities involving the planes, including maintenance and repair, are now subject to restrictions outlined in General Prohibition 10 of the Export Administration Regulations.
Switzerland added three individuals to its Russia sanctions regime, the Federal Department of Economic Affairs announced. The individuals are Alla Viktorovna Polyakova and Tkachev Anton Olegovich, members of the Russian State Duma, as well as Valery Andreevich Ponomarev, member of the Russian Federation Council, the State Secretariat for Economic Affairs said. The move follows the EU's adding of the three to its sanctions regime.
The EU renewed until March 15 its individual sanctions on people and entities responsible for undermining the sovereignty of Ukraine, the European Council announced Sept. 14. The current restrictions amount to a travel ban, asset freeze and ban on making funds available to the listed parties, and apply to 1,206 individuals and 108 entities. Many of the listed parties were added to the restrictions regime for their roles in the Russian war in Ukraine.
The State Department completed an interagency review for a final rule that would amend the International Traffic in Arms Regulations. The rule, sent for review Sept. 6 (see 2209120001) and completed Sept. 14, would make changes to “prohibited exports, imports, and sales to or from certain countries.”
The U.N. Security Council this week amended two entries on its sanctions list. The changes revise identifying information for North Korea-based Singwang Economics and Trading General Corporation and China-based Weihai World-Shipping Freight.
The Office of Foreign Assets Control has designated 22 individuals and two entities connected with Russia's war in Ukraine. The designated individuals have furthered Russia's objectives in Ukraine, both before and during the invasion, OFAC said in a Sept. 15 notice. “Today we’re taking steps to further degrade Russia’s ability to rebuild its military, hold perpetrators of violence accountable, and further financially isolate Putin," Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen said in a news release.
The Office of Foreign Assets Control designated one Zimbabwean and removed 11 others from the Specially Designated Nationals List under the Zimbabwe sanctions program, which targets human rights abusers and underminers of democratic processes, according to an OFAC news release.