Amid rising pressure from Congress, a Bureau of Industry and Security official said the agency is struggling to identify specific emerging technologies for potential export controls and urged industry and academia for more help. Senior BIS official Thea Kendler said the suggestions she has received since her December confirmation (see 2201050023) are too broad as BIS looks to introduce new controls under the Export Control Reform Act.
The U.K. issued a new general license related to the mounting Russia sanctions, permitting until May 6 a wind-down period for positions with Credit Bank of Moscow. The license says that an individual can slowly drop its transactions, including closing out of any positions, to which it is a party involving the bank or one of its subsidiaries. The U.K. also updated the general license pertaining to winding down positions with Sberbank. The update said the bank remains under an asset freeze, but payments related to energy products for use in the U.K. can continue to be used.
The U.K. added eight individuals and two entities to its Russia sanctions regime in another move to punish Russia for its invasion of Ukraine. The individuals are Sergei Sergeivich Ivanov; Boris Borisovich Rotenberg; Gazprombank Management Board Chairman Andrey Igorevich Akimov; Public Joint Stock Company Gazprom Neft Management Board Chair Alexander Valeryevich Dyukov; Sergey Anatolyevich Kogogin, director general of Kamaz PJSC; Andrey Grigoryevich Guryev, former deputy board chairman at PJSC PhosAgro; Novatek PJSC Management Board Chairman Leonid Viktorovich Mikhelson; and Viatcheslav Kantor, chairman of the coordinating board of PJSC Acron.
Australia imposed sanctions on an additional 67 Russians for their roles in Moscow’s war in Ukraine, Australia's foreign affairs ministry said April 7. The sanctions, which were levied after reports of alleged war crimes committed by Russian forces in Ukraine, target senior Russian military and government officials. Australia said it now has sanctioned nearly 600 people and entities related to the Russian war in Ukraine (see 2203180006, 2203080008 and 2204050019).
With the administration considering sanctions on Kaspersky Labs, companies should be assessing not only their own use of the Russia-based software vendor’s cybersecurity offerings, but also use by their vendors and suppliers of Kaspersky’s products, law firm Crowell said on April 6.
The Bureau of Industry and Security expanded its export license requirements for Russia and Belarus to cover all items on the Commerce Control List, the agency said in an April 8 notice, further widening restrictions that previously only applied to categories 3-9 of the CCL. The agency correspondingly revised its recently created Russia/Belarus foreign direct product rule, which will now apply to all items on the CCL, BIS said. The agency also revised its License Exception Aircraft, vessels and spacecraft (AVS) to limit its availability for certain Belarus-related aircraft. The changes are effective April 8.
The Bureau of Industry and Security on April 7 suspended the export privileges of three Russian airlines for violating U.S. export controls against Russia. The agency issued 180-day temporary denial orders for Aeroflot, Azur Air and UTair, barring the airlines from participating in transactions with items subject to the Export Administration Regulations, BIS said.
The U.K. updated its General License pertaining to Russian banks to allow payments relating to insolvency proceedings with VTB's British subsidiary. The Office of Financial Sanctions Implementation said that under the license, anyone until April 3, 2023, "may make, receive or process any payments, or take any other action, in connection with any Insolvency Proceedings relating to the UK Subsidiary, whether prior to or after the commencement of such proceedings, including, without limitation, an insolvency practitioner for the purposes of his or her functions under or in connection with Insolvency Proceedings."
The EU dropped two entries from its Syria sanctions regime following a November General Court decision annulling their listings. Per the April 4 European Council decision, Bashar Mohammad Assi and Khaldoun Al-Zoubi no longer remain subject to EU restrictions.
The U.S.-China Economic and Security Review Commission on April 6 issued an updated table of Chinese companies listed on the Nasdaq, the New York Stock Exchange and the NYSE American. As of March 31, 261 Chinese companies were listed on those U.S. exchanges. The list was last updated in May (see 2105130021).