Robert Wise, a New York-based lawyer who helped manage luxury properties for sanctioned Russian billionaire Viktor Vekselberg, was sentenced Dec. 5 to one year of house arrest followed by one year of probation. U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York Judge Mary Kay Vyskocil also levied a $100,000 fine against the lawyer, to be paid out in $8,333.33 monthly installments over the next year.
Jacob Kopnick
Jacob Kopnick, Associate Editor, is a reporter for Trade Law Daily and its sister publications Export Compliance Daily and International Trade Today. He joined the Warren Communications News team in early 2021 covering a wide range of topics including trade-related court cases and export issues in Europe and Asia. Jacob's background is in trade policy, having spent time with both CSIS and USTR researching international trade and its complexities. Jacob is a graduate of the University of Michigan with a B.A. in Public Policy.
The convenors of e-commerce negotiations at the World Trade Organization -- Australia, Japan and Singapore -- are hoping the talks can conclude in early 2024, the WTO said. Unveiling a negotiating road map during a recent meeting, the three countries said the remaining few weeks of 2023 will focus "on bridging the gaps on outstanding issues, such as e-payments, telecommunications and information and communication technology products that use cryptography." Participants in the talks have now "parked" the negotiating text on privacy, the WTO added, raising the number of "parked," or temporarily concluded, topics to 13. Remaining topics include the "scope, exceptions and legal architecture of the future agreement."
The U.K.'s Solicitors Regulation Authority fined British law firm Ashfords LLP about $128,000 for violating the country's anti-money laundering and terrorist financing regulations. The U.K. said Ashfords, in helping a property investment company conduct a transaction, failed to discover or act on a potential link between the company and one of its sanctioned beneficial owners.
The European Commission on Dec. 1 sent the European Council the deal it reached with Japan on cross-border data flows to be included in the EU-Japan Economic Partnership Agreement. If the council authorizes it, the amendment to the EPA will be sent to the European Parliament for consent, after which it would take effect, the commission announced.
The EU General Court on Nov. 29 accepted the second application from Alexander Pumpyanskiy, son of Russian oligarch Dmitry Pumpyanskiy, to annul his sanctions relisting, according to an unofficial translation. The court rejected his claim for damages. Pumpyanskiy was sanctioned in March 2022 after Russia's invasion of Ukraine, because of his relationship to Dmitry Pumpyanskiy, and because he was president and board member of the Sinara Group.
The EU General Court on Nov. 29 rejected Russian oligarch German Khan's challenge to his sanctions listing, according to an unofficial translation. The listing criteria had a proper legal basis and were not disproportional, the court said.
The European Commission on Nov. 28 imposed provisional antidumping duties on polyethylene terephthalate (PET) plastic product imports from China. The duties will range from 6.6% to 24.2%, and companies not given a specific rate will face the 24.2% dumping rate, the commission announced. It said the duties stem from an EU investigation provisionally finding that Chinese imports present "a threat of a clearly foreseeable and imminent injury to EU industry."
The World Trade Organization's Dispute Settlement Body on Nov. 27 agreed to Indonesia's request to set up a dispute panel to review the EU's countervailing duties on biodiesel from Indonesia, the WTO announced. The EU said it believes its duties "are fully justified, adding that it is confident its measures will be declared in line with WTO law," the WTO said. The U.S., the U.K., Norway, Russia, Thailand, Singapore, Japan, China, Canada, Argentina and Turkey reserved their third party rights to take part in the panel proceedings.
Uzbekistan has ramped up World Trade Organization accession process, the WTO announced. Since the last working party meeting, which took place in March, Uzbekistan "has sustained its technical engagement" on both the bilateral and multilateral fronts, submitted a host of updated documents for the next working party meeting, and "introduced a number of critical policy and institutional measures" to ramp up talks, South Korea's Ambassador Yun Seong-deok, who chairs the working party, said. Uzbekistan's Deputy Prime Minister Jamshid Khodjayev laid out various institutional changes to move the negotiations forward, including "the establishment of a special department in the Ministry of Justice for ensuring compliance with WTO rules and the creation of WTO divisions in 20 ministries and agencies."
The World Trade Organization's Committee on Trade in Civil Aircraft on Nov. 17 agreed to Brazil's terms of accession to the Agreement on Trade in Civil Aircraft, the WTO announced. Brazil will submit the agreement along with its commitments to the nation's National Congress for approval. Brazil originally submitted its application to accede to the deal in June 2022. Marcio Elias Rosa, Brazil's deputy minister and executive secretary of the Ministry of Development, Industry, Commerce and Services, highlighted Brazil's "unwavering commitment to the principles of the WTO and the enhancement of international supply chain," WTO said.