Two companies said they didn’t face any penalties from the Office of Foreign Assets Control after disclosing potential sanctions violations, according to their most recent SEC filings. Baker Hughes, an American oil services company, said it received a “cautionary letter” from OFAC after voluntarily disclosing potential sanctions violations last year. The company said it told OFAC in September that some of its non-U.S. affiliates may have received payments subject to certain sanctions and debt restrictions and that had U.S. touch points. Baker Hughes received a warning letter from OFAC in February, the company said. The company said it’s still being investigated by the SEC (see 2103040065). Semrush Holdings, a Boston software company that disclosed potential sanctions violations last year (see 2103190020), said it won’t face any penalties from OFAC. The agency “decided not to pursue any enforcement action against us and the matter has been closed,” Semrush said.
Switzerland dropped Ahmad Zargar, Mohammad Hejazi and Seyyed Hasan Firuzabadi from its Iran sanctions regime, the State Secretariat for Economic Affairs said in a May 24 amendment. The three individuals were also delisted by the EU and the U.K.
The Office of Foreign Assets Control updated a list of items defined as medical supplies and licensed for export or reexport to the Crimea region of Ukraine. The changes, effective May 31, include replacing the reference to General License 4 with a reference to the location of the license in the Ukraine-/Russia-Related Sanctions Regulations, OFAC said. The agency also made "several technical corrections to items on the List, but is not making any substantive changes to the List."
The Office of Foreign Assets Control sanctioned one person, two banks and a trading company for their support of North Korean weapons of mass destruction and ballistic missile programs and North Korea's national airline, which is sanctioned by the U.S. Yong Nam Jong, of Minsk, Belarus, has "directly supported or helped generate revenue for [North Korean] organizations that are linked to the development of ballistic missiles," a May 27 news release said. Air Koryo Trading, Far Eastern Bank and Sputnik Commercial Bank also were sanctioned after having been found to have contributed to procurement and revenue generation for North Korean organizations. Brian Nelson, Treasury Department undersecretary for terrorism and financial intelligence, said the U.S. "will continue to implement and enforce existing sanctions while urging [North Korea] to return to a diplomatic path and abandon its pursuit of weapons of mass destruction and ballistic missiles.”
The Office of Foreign Assets Control last week renewed a general license authorizing transactions between certain companies and Petroleos de Venezuela S.A. General License No. 8J, which replaces No. 8I (see 2111290007), authorizes transactions between PdVSA and Chevron, Halliburton, Schlumberger, Baker Hughes and Weatherford International, with certain restrictions, through 12:01 a.m. EDT Dec. 1, 2022. The license was scheduled to expire June. 1.
The Office of Foreign Assets Control fined Puerto Rican bank Banco Popular de Puerto Rico (BPPR) about $255,000 for violating U.S. sanctions against Venezuela. BPPR processed 337 transactions on behalf of two government employees of Venezuela, totaling $853,126, OFAC said May 27.
The Bureau of Industry and Security completed an interagency review for a final rule that would make corrections and clarifications to the agency’s Russia and Belarus export controls. The Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs received the rule May 13 (see 2205160005) and completed the review May 26.
The Treasury Department’s decision to end an exemption for certain Russia-related debt payments will cause the Russian government to default, the White House said last week. Treasury announced May 24 it would allow the license to expire, ending transactions necessary for dealings in debt or equity with Russia’s Bank for Development and Foreign Economic Affairs Vnesheconombank, Bank Otkritie Financial, Sovcombank, Sberbank of Russia and VTB Bank (see 2205240054).
The State Department is seeking comments on an information collection related to defense trade registration, the agency said in a notice. The information collection applies to companies registered with the Directorate of Defense Trade Controls and involved “in the business of manufacturing or exporting or temporarily importing defense articles or furnishing defense services.” Comments are due June 27.
The U.S. plans to build on and improve its export controls and investment screening measures to keep China from acquiring sensitive technologies, Secretary of State Antony Blinken said. Blinken, in a speech outlining the Biden administration’s China policy, also urged industry to reassess whether the price of doing business in China is worth the benefits and to work with the administration to push back against Beijing's unfair market practices.