The Office of Foreign Assets Control this week renewed a Venezuela-related license that authorizes certain transactions related to exports or reexports of liquefied petroleum gas to Venezuela (see 2107120054). General License No. 40A, which replaces General License No 40, is valid through 12:01 a.m. EDT July 12, 2023. The license was scheduled to expire July 8.
The Bureau of Industry and Security's recent shift in enforcement policies and strategy could “significantly” increase risks for companies, law firms said, especially those based in the U.S. The changes could cause businesses to invest more in compliance, they said, and could lead to a more aggressive BIS enforcement posture.
Rachel Fiorill, former enforcement section chief at the Treasury Department's Office of Foreign Assets Control, joined Morrison Foerster as of counsel in the Washington, D.C., office, the firm announced. Fiorill most recently worked at Paul Weiss, where she advised clients on "economic sanctions, Bank Secrecy Act/Anti-Money Laundering," anti-corruption and export control proceedings. While at OFAC, Fiorill led investigations of hundreds of enforcement actions, serving as coordinator for the Enforcement Division's Ukraine, Russia and Syria-related investigations, Morrison Foerster said.
The U.K. dropped nine entries from its cyber sanctions regime, the Office of Financial Sanctions Implementation announced in a July 5 notice. OFSI removed eight individuals -- Aleyona Chuguleva, Darya Dugina, Yuriy Fedin, Denis Gafner, Yevgeniy Glotov, Valeriya Kalabayeva, Aelita Mamakova and Mikhail Sinelin -- and one entity, United World International, from the consolidated list. All remain subject to an asset freeze under the Russia regime.
Eleven non-EU European countries implemented restrictions against ISIL (Da'esh) and al-Qaida and associated individuals and entities to mirror the EU's recent sanctions action, the European Council announced July 5. Last month, the council added three individuals and one entity to the list of sanctioned parties under the ISIL/al-Qaida restrictions. North Macedonia, Montenegro, Serbia, Albania, Ukraine, Moldova, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Iceland, Liechtenstein, Armenia and Georgia aligned themselves with the decision.
The Office of Foreign Assets Control sanctioned an international network that used a network of front companies to cover the delivery and sale of hundreds of millions of dollars’ worth of Iranian oil and petrochemical products from Iranian companies to East Asia, according to a July 6 press release. Two individuals, 13 entities, and two vessels were added to the Specially Designated Nationals list, according to OFAC's July 6 notice. The action follows an earlier action by OFAC on June 16, which designated members of an international sanctions-evasion network supporting Iranian petrochemical sales (see 2206160030). “While the U.S. is committed to achieving an agreement with Iran that seeks a mutual return to compliance with the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action, we will continue to use all our authorities to enforce sanctions on the sale of Iranian petroleum and petrochemicals,” Undersecretary of the Treasury for Terrorism and Financial Intelligence Brian Nelson said.
Although China hasn’t yet implemented its anti-foreign-sanctions law in Hong Kong, it may only be a matter of time, said Jessica Bartlett, the global head of financial crime legal at Barclays, speaking during a July 6 event hosted by the Center for Strategic and International Studies. She said multinational companies are continuing to face a “challenging” sanctions compliance environment in Hong Kong, which could grow more difficult depending on how the government decides whether and if to penalize firms for complying with foreign sanctions.
Hagir Elawad, former official at the United Arab Emirates Embassy in Washington, D.C., joined Shumaker Advisors as senior vice president of federal affairs, the firm announced. At Shumaker, Elawad will take on a lead advocacy position, "managing government affairs teams and driving public policy solutions," the firm said. During her time in the UAE Embassy, Elawad worked on public affairs issues, including export controls, sanctions, defense, aviation and renewable energy, among other things, Shumaker said.
Thomas Krueger, former director of strategic trade and nonproliferation on the National Security Council, has joined Akin Gump as a senior policy adviser, according to a LinkedIn post from firm partner Kevin Wolf. Krueger worked for a decade at the State Department, most recently as a senior policy adviser, before joining the NSC, where he served from 2020 to June 2022. Per his new firm, Krueger advises clients on compliance with the International Traffic in Arms Regulations and the Export Administration Regulations, along with transfer policies for emerging technologies.
The U.K. released three general licenses pertaining to its Russian sanctions regime. The first, "Wind Down of Positions Involving Rosbank," allows until July 30 an individual or entity to wind down any transactions to which it is a party involving Rosbank or a subsidiary. Such action includes closing out of any positions, repaying loans, withdrawing deposits and closing accounts. The next license, "Wind down positions involving National Bank of Belarus," allows an individual to give financial services for winding down any "derivatives, repurchase, and reverse purchase transactions" entered into before July 5 with the National Bank of Belarus, Ministry of Finance of Belarus and those individuals listed under the Belarus sanctions regime. The last license, "Transferable securities, money market instruments, loans and credit arrangements," permits a seven-day wind down period for category C loans and transferable securities and money market instruments under the Belarus sanctions regime.