Europol, the EU's law enforcement agency, launched Operation Oscar along with Eurojust and Frontex to target assets owned by sanctioned Russian individuals and entities to help enforce the recent waves of sanctions on Russia following its invasion of Ukraine. The operation will also seek to bolster EU member states' criminal investigations into the circumvention of EU sanctions. Operation Oscar will run for at least a year and include various other separate investigations, Europol said.
The Office of Foreign Assets Control April 12 issued Russia-related General License 26, allowing a wind-down period with Sberbank subsidiaries Joint Stock Company SB Sberbank Kazakhstan and Sberbank Europe AG. Certain transactions are authorized through 12:01 a.m. EDT July 12.
Although the Bureau of Industry and Security hasn’t yet announced any enforcement actions against lessors or financers of restricted Russian aircraft, those parties still face significant compliance risks, Katten said in an April 8 alert.
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Countries should strengthen multilateral export controls over advanced hypersonic weapons technologies and work closer to prevent their proliferation, the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute said in an April report. This may require more stringent export restrictions at multilateral control regimes and better outreach to countries outside the regimes, the report said, including China.
The U.S. should make export control harmonization a priority as it pursues its Indo-Pacific Economic Framework, ensuring that any restrictions are aligned with member countries and not unfairly hampering American companies, U.S. trade groups told the Commerce Department in comments released this week (see 2203140018). The U.S. could even use the IPEF to create a new multilateral export control regime, some groups said, which could specifically focus on semiconductor equipment or other advanced technologies.
The U.K. revised its general license under its Russia sanctions regime permitting the provision of technical assistance, financial services and funds, and brokering services for certain vessels. The updated license includes aircraft and aeroengines and the provision of insurance services for aviation under the license, the Export Control Joint Unit said. The license came into effect April 5 and requires anyone seeking to rely on the license to register via the U.K.'s SPIRE export licensing system within 30 days of the first use of the license.
Russia imposed sanctions on members of the Australian and New Zealand governments in an April 7 retaliatory move, the Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs said, according to an unofficial translation. The sanctioned parties include New Zealand's Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern and Gov.-General Cynthia Kiro, and Australia's Prime Minister Scott Morrison, as well as hundreds of members of their respective governments. The listed parties are barred from entering Russia.
The U.K. added two entries to its Bosnia and Herzegovina sanctions list and amended three names under its Russia sanctions regime. In one notice, the Office of Financial Sanctions Implementation added Zeljka Cvijanovic, president of Republika Srpska, and Milorad Dodik, president of the Alliance of Independent Social Democrats party, to the Bosnia and Herzegovina sanctions regime. In a separate notice, OFSI amended the entries for Evgeny Alekseevich Fedorov, Tigran Organesovich Khudaverdyan and Katerina Vladimirovna Tikhonova.
The Office of Foreign Assets Control on April 11 designated seven people and one entity across four countries for their involvement in corruption and organized crime that threatens the stability of the Western Balkans. The targets are former business executives and government officials in Albania, North Macedonia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, and Montenegro. "The people designated today constitute a serious threat to regional stability, institutional trust, and the aspirations of those seeking democratic and judicious governance in the Western Balkans,” Undersecretary for Terrorism and Financial Intelligence Brian Nelson said.