The Financial Action Task Force recently updated its list of jurisdictions with “deficiencies” in combating terrorism financing, weapons proliferation and other sanctions-related issues, the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network said Feb. 29. The FATF added Kenya and Namibia to its list of "Jurisdictions Under Increased Monitoring" and removed Barbados, Gibraltar, Uganda and the United Arab Emirates from that list. The FATF’s list of "High-Risk Jurisdictions Subject to a Call for Action" remains the same and still lists Iran, North Korea and Myanmar.
A final rule released by the Office of Foreign Assets Control last week updated contact information and “grammatical terminology” across some of the agency’s existing regulations. OFAC said the changes “reflect current office names and email addresses,” and make other revisions. The rule is effective March 5.
The Office of Foreign Assets Control changed the heading of its Darfur Sanctions Regulations to the Sudan Stabilization Sanctions Regulations and amended other parts of the regulations to implement a May executive order that expanded the U.S. sanctions authority against Sudan (see 2305040037). The agency also added new definitions, general licenses and guidance. The changes take effect March 5.
An updated general license issued last week by the Office of Foreign Assets Control (see 2402290080) narrowed the scope of transactions that were previously authorized with Consorcio Venezolano de Industrias Aeronauticas y Servicios Aereos, S.A., Venezuela’s flagship airline, the agency said in March 1 guidance.
Several companies recently disclosed potential export control or sanctions violations or updated the status of their current disclosures, including several technology businesses, a pharmaceutical company and a cryptocurrency software platform company. The disclosures describe potential violations of U.S. sanctions against several countries -- including Russia, Iran and North Korea -- and one company receiving a no-action letter from the Office of Foreign Assets Control.
The U.K. issued a new general license under its Russia sanctions regime authorizing certain payments by people who "owe monies to a designated person as a result of a Court Order." The license took effect Feb. 29.
The State Department’s Defense Trade Advisory Group is accepting membership applications from subject-matter experts in the U.S. defense industry, the agency said in a notice this week. Members serve a consecutive two-year term and submit recommendations to improve the agency’s export control regime. Applications must be emailed or postmarked by March 26.
The U.S. Attorney's Office for the Southern District of New York last week charged Russian oligarch Andrey Kostin, along with Russian national Vadim Wolfson of Austin, Texas, and U.S. citizen Gannon Bond of Edgewater, New Jersey, with conspiracy to violate U.S. sanctions on Russia by providing "funds, goods, and services" to Kostin, a sanctioned party, it said in a news release. (U.S. v. Andrey Kostin, S.D.N.Y. # 24-00091).
The Biden administration and Congress should wield a wide range of tools to choke off Iran’s oil exports, which are fueling Tehran’s support for terrorist groups, a former State Department official said Feb. 28.
The leaders of the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence urged Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo to strengthen biotechnology export controls to preserve U.S. leadership in the critical sector.