The intergovernmental 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 June 23. FATF added the British Virgin Islands and Bolivia to its list of "Jurisdictions Under Increased Monitoring" and removed Croatia, Mali and Tanzania from that list. FATF’s list of "High-Risk Jurisdictions Subject to a Call for Action" remains the same, with Iran, North Korea and Myanmar.
Chinese purchases of Iranian oil will continue to be subject to U.S. sanctions despite President Donald Trump saying June 24 that China can now buy Iranian oil (see 2506240049), a senior White House official said.
The Office of Foreign Assets Control is considering adding a new online portal for sanctioned people and parties to ask to be removed from the agency's Specially Designated Nationals List and other OFAC restricted party lists.
An Israeli telecommunications and cybersecurity technology company told the Bureau of Industry and Security that it may have violated export controls against Russia and Belarus.
Enacting two pending export control bills into law could help keep U.S. AI technology out of China’s hands, an advocacy group representative told the House Select Committee on China June 25.
Rep. Keith Self, R-Texas, introduced a bill June 12 that would increase the congressional notification threshold for exports of firearms controlled under Category I of the U.S. Munitions List. The legislation would set the threshold at $4 million, up from $1 million, a level set in 1976. The bill was referred to the House Foreign Affairs Committee.
The House approved bills late June 23 dealing with anti-piracy sanctions and foreign investment in U.S. farmland.
The Office of Foreign Assets Control this week sanctioned Giovanni Vicente Mosquera Serrano, who is "involved in" the drug trafficking and financial operations of the transnational criminal group Tren de Aragua. The agency said Mosquera Serrano oversees drug trafficking efforts and murders on behalf of the gang in Colombia, and he also manages the "financial proceeds" of the gang’s criminal activities. The State Department is offering up to $3 million in rewards for information leading to his arrest or conviction.
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Former U.S. and U.K. national security officials warned the British government about aligning too closely with a decoupling strategy toward China, saying this week that the U.K. should carefully manage sensitive trade issues but not in a way that strains economic ties with Beijing.