Export Compliance Daily is providing readers with the top stories for Oct. 25-29 in case you missed them. You can find any article by searching the title or by clicking on the hyperlinked reference number.
Although companies shouldn’t expect the Treasury Department's recently released sanctions review to lead to major policy changes, it could result in slightly fewer designations, clearer humanitarian exemptions and more sanctions guidance, law firms said.
The Bureau of Industry and Security will add four entities in Israel, Russia, and Singapore to the Entity List for "malicious cyber activities" that are contrary to U.S. foreign policy and national security, BIS said in a notice. The two Israeli companies supply malicious spyware to foreign governments, and the companies in Russia and Singapore “traffic in cyber exploits” that threaten the “privacy and security of individuals and organizations worldwide.” BIS will impose a license review policy of presumption of denial for all items subject to the Export Administration Regulations. The Commerce Department said the Entity List additions are part of a government-wide effort to "stem the proliferation of digital tools used for repression." The additions take effect Nov. 4.
Christopher Monahan has joined Faegre Drinker as a partner in its Washington, D.C.-based customs and international trade practice, the firm announced. Monahan, formerly of Winston & Strawn, has advised clients on U.S. international trade and investment regulations, including the International Traffic in Arms Regulations, the Export Administration Regulations and the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act, the firm said.
The United Kingdom's Office of Financial Sanctions Implementation updated its financial sanctions guidance for charities and other nongovernmental organizations. The new document provides resources for charities and NGOs, including basic steps for conducting due diligence when engaging in business abroad, what to do if financial sanctions are breached and how to apply for an OFSI license to skirt financial sanctions. The guidance also gives country- and sector-specific sanctions information including on Syria, Afghanistan and petroleum products.
The U.S. should coordinate more closely with European partners on a sanctions framework aimed at Lebanese government officials, Senate Foreign Relations Committee leaders said. In an Oct. 29 letter to Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen and Secretary of State Antony Blinken, senators said the U.S. should “complement” the European Union’s recent sanctions against Lebanon so that the country’s leaders “fully understand the consequences, including the freezing of any assets subject to U.S. jurisdiction, of their behavior.”
The new Department of Justice enforcement and disclosure policies (see 2110280051) could substantially increase scrutiny on corporate trade violators, law firms said, especially those with a history of misconduct. The policies, announced last week by Deputy Attorney General Lisa Monaco, revealed the Biden administration’s “extensive agenda that is designed to be tough” on corporations, Wiley Rein said, and may foreshadow more changes. “As she made clear,” the firm said Oct. 29, “the Biden DOJ is serious about revamping corporate enforcement and this is just the first wave of reform.”
The trial involving Danish fuel supply Dan-Bunkering and its parent company Bunker Holding kicked off on Oct. 26, EU Sanctions reported. Denmark in 2019 charged Dan-Bunkering with violating the European Union's Syrian sanctions regime by selling jet fuel to Syria. Between 2015 and 2017, around 172,000 tons of jet fuel were allegedly sold to Russian companies and shipped to Syria using intermediaries, EU Sanctions said.
President Joe Biden extended a national emergency that authorizes certain sanctions against people and entities in Sudan, the White House said Oct. 29. Sudan has “made strides in its transition toward democracy.” but the “military takeover of the government and arrest of civilian leaders now threaten those positive gains,” the White House said. The emergency was extended for one year beyond Nov. 3.
The Office of Foreign Assets Control on Oct. 29 updated a Liberia-related vessel on its Specially Designated Nationals List. The entry lists the Oman Pride, a Liberia-flagged crude oil tanker subject to secondary sanctions. The tanker was sanctioned in August for being operated by Bravery Maritime, a company owned by Iranian oil shipper Mahmood Rashid Amur Al Habsi (see 2108130041).