With Russia having recently restarted production of liquefied natural gas at its Western-sanctioned Arctic LNG 2 project, compliance officers should prepare for the increased but “manageable” risks that Russian LNG poses, according to a new report released by Blackstone Compliance Services.
Defense firm RTX Corp. will pay $200 million to settle alleged violations of U.S. defense export controls, the largest standalone export penalty ever issued by the State Department. RTX voluntarily disclosed the 750 violations, the agency said in a charging letter, most of which involved “historical” issues by an aerospace firm acquired by RTX in 2018.
Peter Beckman, a former DHS official, has joined the State Department’s Directorate of Defense Trade Controls as a defense trade analyst in the Defense Trade Controls Licensing office, he announced on LinkedIn. Beckman said he will specifically work on export licensing issues within the agency's Space, Missile, and Sensor Systems Division. Beckman left DHS in July, according to his LinkedIn.
The Treasury Department is seeking public comments on an information collection involving its customer identification program (CIP) regulatory rules for certain financial institutions. The agency said it requires banks and other similar financial entities to maintain “minimum standards for customer identification programs,” which can help alert the government about transactions that may be supporting terrorism, money laundering, sanctions evasion or other criminal activities. Public comments on the information collection are due Sept. 30.
U.S. National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan had “extended discussions” about economics and national security, including technology export controls, in talks with senior leaders in China this week (see 2408280042), he said during an Aug. 29 press conference in Beijing.
The Treasury Department issued a final rule this week that will make investment advisers subject to anti-money laundering and counter-terrorism financing requirements, which it said will close a loophole that allows criminal actors to hide money in the U.S. and sanctioned companies to access sensitive technology through investments in American firms.
The State Department fined U.S. defense firm RTX Corp. $200 million to settle alleged violations of the Arms Export Control Act and the International Traffic in Arms Regulations, one of the largest standalone export penalties ever issued by the agency. The Directorate of Defense Trade Controls said the 750 violations, most of which involved the “historical systemic failures” of an aerospace systems company acquired by RTX, stemmed from export control classification issues, the illegal “hand-carry” of defense items to another country and violations of the terms of DDTC licenses. RTX voluntarily disclosed the violations, which included exports of prohibited items to Lebanon, Iran, Russia and China.
The U.S. touched on export controls in talks between National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan and China's Foreign Minister Wang Yi, readouts from both countries said, with the Chinese summary of two days of talks going into more detail about China's views on the issue.
The U.S. and South Korea this week hosted a symposium for government officials, finance industry representatives, investment firms and others about how to shield the virtual asset industry from being exploited by North Korea, the State Department said. The symposium, held in New York on Aug. 27, convened participants from more than 40 countries to discuss “updates on current trends” in North Korean virtual asset thefts and laundering, information on North Korean cyber threats, and “guidance on how industry and government can better work together.”
The U.S. this week sanctioned Hashomer Yosh and Yitzhak Levi Filant, a non governmental organization and a person, respectively, for contributing to violence against Palestinians in the West Bank. Hashomer Yosh has provided “material support” to other U.S.-sanctioned Israeli groups and people in the region, and Filant is the civilian security coordinator of the Yitzhar settlement in the West Bank, where he helped lead armed Israeli settlers to attack Palestinians in their lands, the State Department said.