An British court of appeals declined to hear one appeal, and found in favor of the government in another, in cases regarding U.K. sanctions on Russia following its invasion of Ukraine.
The EU should create a new legal regime to allow European countries to seize frozen Russian assets and use those assets to help rebuild Ukraine, the European Parliament said in a resolution last week. The resolution, which passed 451-46 with 49 abstentions, "underlines" that Russia “must be obliged to pay reparations” to Ukraine. The idea also has support from U.S. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen 2402270043).
Australia on March 1 issued another round of sanctions against Russian prison officials with ties to opposition figure Alexei Navalny's death (see 2402280017). The new designations apply to three Russian officials “linked to the prison” where Navalny died last month, the country’s ministry of foreign affairs said. Australia said it holds President Vladimir Putin and the Russian government “responsible for Mr Navalny’s treatment and death in prison” and called for “an independent and transparent investigation” into the issue. The announcement didn’t name the sanctioned prison officials.
A bipartisan group of nine senators, including Senate Foreign Relations Committee Chairman Ben Cardin, D-Md., urged the Biden administration on Feb. 29 to consider taking additional steps, including economic restrictions, to pressure Nicaraguan government officials to end their crackdown on political dissent and religious freedom.
Nine Republican senators urged President Joe Biden to rescind his recent executive order on West Bank sanctions and his new memorandum on U.S. foreign military aid, saying both treat Israel unfairly.
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.