The U.K. on May 8 amended one entry under its Russia sanctions regime, updating the listing for Said Mikhailovich Gutseriev. The amended listing now shows that Gutseriev worked as a director of various Russian financial services and energy extractive companies, which operate in "sectors of strategic significance to the Government of Russia."
China on May 7 voiced its opposition to the U.S. reportedly revoking the export licenses that Intel and Qualcomm use to sell certain semiconductors to Huawei (see 2405070081). The Ministry of Commerce said the move violates World Trade Organization commitments, according to an unofficial translation.
Florida resident Yuksel Senbol pleaded guilty on May 8 to conspiracy to violate the Export Control Reform Act, violating ECRA and violating the Arms Export Control Act, among other crimes, for her role in fraudulently procuring contracts to supply the Defense Department with "critical military components," DOJ announced.
The Bureau of Industry and Security needs more help from companies to stop Russia from acquiring export controlled semiconductors and other microelectronics, Matthew Axelrod, the agency’s top export enforcement official, said May 8 during a semiconductor summit hosted by the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Central District of California. The joint Commerce Department-DOJ Disruptive Technology Strike Force has helped the government pool resources to investigate and prosecute export control violations, “but even this impactful coordinated effort across government enforcement agencies is, by itself, insufficient to meet the national security moment we’re facing,” Axelrod said. “[F]rankly, we need everyone to do more.”
The Bureau of Industry and Security will make several “conforming and clarifying” changes to the Export Administration Regulations to fix and update country and destination references, remove “obsolete” references, correct inadvertent errors and make other minor revisions.
The Biden administration, which announced in August 2023 that it would develop restrictions on outbound investment in China (see 2308090066), expects to finalize the new regulations by the end of calendar year 2024, Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo said May 8.
The Bureau of Industry and Security added 37 Chinese entities to the Entity List for trying to acquire export controlled items for China’s military or quantum technology efforts, helping to ship controlled items to Russia, or for supporting China’s “High Altitude Balloon” program. The additions, outlined in a final rule that was released and took effect May 9, include technology companies, manufacturing firms, research institutions and others. They will be subject to license requirements for all items subject to the Export Administration Regulations, and licenses will be reviewed under a presumption of denial.
The Office of Foreign Assets Control soon will make a range of changes to its reporting, procedures and penalties regulations, including one that will require electronic-only filings of certain documents and others that will add or clarify reporting requirements for certain blocked property or rejected transactions. The agency also clarified its definitions for “transaction” and “U.S. persons” after public commenters told OFAC they were unclear, clarified the types of information that must be reported for rejected transitions, and more.
Dennis Fitzpatrick, former assistant U.S. Attorney in the Eastern District of Virginia, has joined Whiteford as a partner working on national security matters, the firm announced. Whiteford said Fitzpatrick has experience with proceedings on export controls, sanctions evasion, money laundering and bribery.
The Bureau of Industry and Security named Eric Longnecker, former head of the agency’s Office of Strategic Industries and Economic Security, the new deputy assistant secretary for technology security, he announced on LinkedIn. Longnecker, who has worked at BIS for nearly 20 years, announced his new role May 6.