The Bureau of Industry and Security last week announced new export controls on four technologies that can be used to produce advanced semiconductors and gas turbine engines. The controls, which were agreed to by members of the multilateral Wassenaar Arrangement at last year’s plenary, will apply to two substrates of ultra-wide bandgap semiconductors, certain Electronic Computer Aided Design (ECAD) software and certain pressure gain combustion (PGC) technology.
Arif Ugur, a Turkish national indicted last year for his role in illegally shipping defense technical data to Turkey (see 2107260014), pleaded guilty to the charges this week, DOJ said: two counts of violating the Arms Export Control Act and one count of conspiring to violate the AECA, along with two counts of wire fraud. Ugur faces a maximum sentence of up to 20 years in prison and a $250,000 fine for violating the AECA, and up to five years in prison and a $250,000 fine for conspiring to violate the AECA.
The U.K.’s Office of Financial Sanctions Implementation this week corrected one entry on its North Korea sanctions list. OFSI corrected the entry for Mun Cho’ng-Ch’o’l, an official with North Korea’s Tanchon Commercial Bank. Cho’ng-Ch’o’l remains subject to an asset freeze.
Even though U.S. export controls haven’t cut into SMIC’s profit margins, they have hurt the Chinese semiconductor company’s ability to advance its chip-producing technology, said Min-Hua Chiang, a Heritage Foundation research fellow. Because restrictions imposed by the Bureau of Industry and Security limit SMIC’s ability to import equipment for making chips below 10 nanometers, the company is “stuck with using older technology,” she wrote in an August post. “Without access to foreign equipment,” the post said, “it will be very difficult for China to produce the most advanced chips any time soon, putting a severe crimp in Beijing’s plans for its military and security apparatus.”
The State Department’s Directorate of Defense Trade Controls released its notifications to Congress of recently proposed export licenses. The April through June notices feature arms sales to numerous countries, including Saudi Arabia, the U.K., Australia, Thailand and Norway.
The U.K.’s Office of Financial Sanctions Implementation this week amended 27 entries on its Russia sanctions list. The entries, which include military officials, are still subject to asset freezes.
The State Department this week released a report to Congress of people in El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras and Nicaragua who may be engaging in corruption or undermining democratic processes. The individuals, who include senior government officials, will be subject to visa restrictions and could face other sanctions.
The University of Pennsylvania recently issued an updated version of its export control compliance manual. The new document, released last month, includes an overview of export and sanctions regulations and an outline of Penn’s export control procedures, including information on its technology control plan process, its export control analyses, its recordkeeping procedures and more.
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The Treasury Department’s designation of a virtual currency mixer this week was a significant step toward combating financial cyber crime, and could lead to more effective actions against cyber criminals, including those operating out of North Korea, former FBI analyst Nick Carlsen said, speaking during a Center for a New American Security event this week. Carlsen also said the U.S. should work closer with South Korea, including through sanctions coordination, to better target North Korean financial crime.