The U.K. corrected one entry on its Russia sanctions list and amended one entry on its Global Anti-Corruption sanctions list, the Office of Financial Sanctions Implementation said. Under Russia, OFSI corrected the listing for OJSC Keremet Bank, changing the ZIP code for the bank in Kyrgyzstan. Under the anti-corruption regime, the agency amended the listing for Teodoro Nguema Obiang Mangue to reflect that Mangue was listed for engaging in bribery while serving as vice president of Equatorial Guinea.
The U.K.’s latest package of Russia sanctions (see 2502240056) featured the country’s first use of recently expanded designation powers that have “secondary sanctions-like effects,” Steptoe said in a client alert. The powers -- which allow the U.K. government to designate people and entities for providing financial services, making funds available to or facilitating other activities of certain parties with ties to Russia -- were used to target Kyrgyzstan-based OJSC Keremet Bank, which was accused of providing financial services to people in the Russian financial sector. The designation means U.K. credit and financial institutions are blocked from “establishing or continuing correspondent banking relationships” or processing payments with Keremet.
The Bureau of Industry and Security for the past month has been led by a key Project 2025 contributor entrusted by the Trump administration with overseeing an export control policy review, an effort that resulted in a licensing pause and coincided with multiple senior career employees leaving the agency. BIS resumed processing and approving certain license applications around the same time the Trump official was removed from his position late last month, Export Compliance Daily has found.
Matthew Axelrod, the Bureau of Industry and Security's former export enforcement chief, has joined Gibson Dunn to help lead the firm's new sanctions and export enforcement practice group. Axelrod and former Treasury Department senior adviser Adam Smith will co-chair the new group, which they said will aim to help clients navigate rising export control and sanctions risks.
Raj Parekh, a DOJ lawyer who was named the Bureau of Industry and Security’s first chief of corporate enforcement in September (see 2409120007), is leaving BIS next week to join the law firm Sparacino, he announced on LinkedIn. Parekh said his departure from government is “entirely unrelated to current events,” adding that his one-year detail as the BIS corporate enforcement chief “would have continued if it were not for this unique opportunity in the private sector.”
Kevin Kurland, the Bureau of Industry and Security's most senior career export enforcement official, has been tapped to replace longtime BIS official Matt Borman in overseeing the agency’s export administration efforts, three people familiar with the matter said. BIS updated its website Feb. 27 to reflect the change.
The Financial Action Task Force recently updated its list of jurisdictions with “deficiencies” in combating terrorism financing, weapons proliferation and other sanctions-related issues, the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network said Feb. 26. The FATF added Laos and Nepal to its list of "Jurisdictions Under Increased Monitoring" and removed the Philippines from it. The FATF’s list of "High-Risk Jurisdictions Subject to a Call for Action" remains the same and still lists Iran, North Korea and Myanmar.
Thailand on Feb. 27 returned to China at least 40 Uyghurs that had been detained in Thailand for years, despite calls from the U.S. officials not to do so and threats of possible sanctions by lawmakers.
Instead of prematurely lifting sanctions against Russia, the U.S. should look to close sanctions loopholes, double down on enforcement and continue coordinating the restrictions with allies, Charles Lichfield, deputy director of the Atlantic Council’s GeoEconomics Center, said in an analysis published by the think tank this week.
Microsoft this week urged the Trump administration to rethink portions of a Biden-era rule that placed global export controls on certain shipments of advanced artificial intelligence chips, saying the rule will have unintended negative consequences on the American technology industry.