The Office of Foreign Assets Control made a technical amendment to the definition of “applicable schedule amount,” which establishes a base penalty for non-egregious sanctions violations cases that do not involve a voluntary self-disclosure. OFAC has periodically raised its “applicable schedule amount” to correspond to the agency’s civil monetary penalties, which are adjusted annually for inflation (see 2104090006). Under the new definition, the applicable schedule amount “will automatically rise with OFAC’s CMPs, removing the necessity of updating the applicable schedule amount on an annual basis,” the agency said. The change becomes effective Jan. 21.
The Bureau of Industry and Security revoked export privileges for an Idaho resident after the person tried to illegally export firearms from the U.S., BIS said Jan. 20. Khaldoun Hejazi was convicted March 2, 2020, of exporting defense articles on the U.S. Munitions List, which violated the Arms Export Controls Act. Hejazi was sentenced to 30 months in prison and three years of supervised release, fined $30,000 and assessed $100. BIS denied Hejazi’s export privileges for five years from the date of conviction.
The State Department imposed sanctions on China Aerospace Science and Technology Corporation First Academy, China Aerospace Science and Industry Corporation Fourth, and Poly Technologies Incorporated due to missile technology proliferation, it said in a notice. Such entities are denied new individual licenses for items on the U.S. Munitions List and all items controlled under the Export Control Reform Act of 2018 for two years.
Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control is amending the Transnational Criminal Organizations Sanctions Regulations and reissuing them in their entirety. OFAC said, in a notice that the reissuance will further implement two executive orders related to transnational criminal organizations, issued July 24, 2011, and March 15, 2019. OFAC amended the regulations to provide “additional interpretive guidance, definitions, general licenses, and other regulatory provisions that will provide further guidance to the public.” The regulations implement targeted sanctions directed at persons that constitute a significant transnational criminal organization or persons that have materially assisted, or provided financial, material, or technological support for those organizations.
The U.S. this week imposed new sanctions against Russia for its “destabilizing” activities in Ukraine and privately previewed a harsher set of potential trade restrictions, including major new export controls on chip equipment. Although it remains unclear if those specific export restrictions would be coordinated with allies, the U.S., Germany and the U.K. all said Jan. 20 that they are ready to impose “massive consequences and severe economic costs” on Russia if it continues down a path to war.
Robert Friedman, former attorney-adviser for the State Department's Office of Legal Adviser, joined Holland & Knight as a partner in the Washington, D.C., office's international trade practice, the firm announced. Friedman will advise businesses, trade associations and other clients on issues pertaining to "economic sanctions, export controls, foreign direct investment, supply chain security, customs laws, data privacy and cybersecurity, market access, anti-corruption and national security regulations," the firm said. Most recently, Friedman was an international trade partner at Harris Wiltshire.
The United Kingdom, in a pair of financial sanctions notices, replaced one individual on its Libya sanctions list and took three entities off its ISIL (Da'esh) and al-Qaida sanctions regime. The Office of Financial Sanctions Implementation added Quren Salih Quren Al Qadhafi, replacing the entry for the same individual who served as the Libyan ambassador to Chad under the regime of Moammar Gadhafi. The individual remains subject to an asset freeze. OFSI also removed the Al-Haramain Foundation (Indonesia), Al-Haramain Islamic Foundation and Al-Haramain Islamic Foundation (Somalia) from the ISIL sanctions regime, and thus lifted the asset freeze on the three.
The United Kingdom added two Russian individuals to its Global Human Rights sanctions regime, the Office of Financial Sanctions Implementation said Jan. 13. Both former members of the Russian military, Dmitry Vadimovich Kovtun and Andrey Konstantinovich Lugovoy were sanctioned for their role in the killing of Alexander Litvinenko through deliberate poisoning in 2006. The pair were also listed under the Anti-terrorism, Crime and Security Act 2001, but OFSI gave notice Jan. 17 that the designations of the two Russians expired under that regime but are still subject to asset freezes as the two individuals' listings have been moved to the Global Human Rights sanctions regime.
The Office of Foreign Assets Control authorized the South Korean government to deliver a compensation payment to Iran's Dayyani Group under a 2018 investor-state dispute settlement, South Korea said Jan. 12. South Korea said it received a specific license from OFAC to allow it to compensate the Iranian investor group for its failed acquisition of South Korea’s Daewoo Electronics. The payment stemmed from a 2018 ruling by the International Center for Settlement of Investment Disputes, which ordered Seoul to pay the Dayyani Group about $63 million, The Korea Herald reported. South Korea said it had not been able to follow through with the payment due to U.S. sanctions but will now be able to send the money after receiving the specific license from OFAC Jan. 6.
The Census Bureau recently released the January issue of its TradeSource newsletter, which provides tips and information on government assistance programs for exporters. The issue outlines how the U.S. Commercial Service can help exporters find new markets and features a blog post from the State Department’s Directorate of Defense Trade Controls, including information on updates to DDTC’s website, licensing and registration activities.