The U.S. on Jan. 12 sanctioned seven people and one entity for helping to procure goods for North Korea’s weapons and missile programs. The Office of Foreign Assets Control sanctioned Russia-based North Korean national Choe Myong Hyon and four China-based North Korean weapons procurement officials: Sim Kwang Sok, Kim Song Hun, Kang Chol Hak and Pyon Kwang Chol. The State Department sanctioned North Korean national O Yong Ho, Russian national Roman Anatolyevich Alar and Russian entity Parsek LLC for helping to deliver weapons materials to North Korea. OFAC said the sanctions follow North Korea’s six missile launches since September, which violated U.N. Security Council resolutions.
OFAC sanction activity
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The Office of Foreign Assets Control issued a new frequently asked question to address how certain “loans, contracts, or other agreements” are treated under its Belarus, Ukraine/Russia and Venezuela sanctions programs. The FAQ, issued Jan. 7, outlines how OFAC views modifications to “pre-existing loans, contracts, or other agreements to replace London Interbank Offered Rate (LIBOR) as the reference rate.” The agency said any loans or contracts that use LIBOR as a reference rate and are “modified to replace such benchmark reference rate” won’t be treated as new debt for OFAC sanctions purposes, “so long as no other material terms of the loan, contract, or agreement are modified.”
The U.S. and the EU this week announced a coordinated set of sanctions against Nicaragua for the country’s “fraudulent” presidential elections that have kept the Daniel Ortega regime in power. The Office of Foreign Assets Control sanctioned six Nicaraguan government and military officials, and the EU sanctioned seven officials and three government entities. The U.S. and the EU announced the sanctions Jan. 10.
The Office of Foreign Assets Control on Jan. 5 sanctioned Milorad Dodik, a member of the Presidency of Bosnia and Herzegovina, and an entity he controls, Alternativna Televizija d.o.o. Banja Luka (ATV), for “destabilizing” activity and corruption. The agency said Dodik uses the ATV a media outlet to “advance his own personal and political goals” and has “funneled money directly from public companies to ATV for corrupt purposes.” OFAC said the designation is the first issued under President Joe Biden’s June executive order that expanded the U.S.’s sanctions authority for people and entities in the Western Balkans (see 2106090030).
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The Office of Foreign Assets Control fined Airbnb just over $91,000 for violating U.S. sanctions against Cuba, the agency said Jan. 3. OFAC said the company’s subsidiary, Airbnb Payments, illegally processed payments for guests traveling in Cuba and failed to keep certain records related to those payments.
The Office of Foreign Assets Control on Dec. 30 deleted a range of entries designated under its counter-narcotics, Cuba and Kingpin Act sanctions. The now-deleted entries are for people and entities located in Colombia, Panama and Mexico. OFAC didn’t immediately provide more information.
The Office of Foreign Assets Control fined TD Bank about $115,000 for two separate instances of sanctions violations, the agency said Dec. 23. The bank illegally processed nearly 1,500 transactions that violated U.S. sanctions against North Korea and maintained two accounts for more than four years for a U.S. resident who was sanctioned under Foreign Narcotics Kingpin Sanctions Regulations. OFAC said both cases resulted from “multiple sanctions compliance breakdowns,” including human errors and screening deficiencies.
The Treasury Department’s new “dangerous” humanitarian-related general licenses for Afghanistan lack oversight and could empower the Taliban, said Rep. Michael McCaul of Texas, the top Republican on the House Foreign Affairs Committee. McCaul said the licenses are “broad sanctions carveouts” that could “reward, legitimize and enable the same Taliban that took power by force and has shown no interest in abiding by international norms.”