The Office of Foreign Assets Control on April 15 issued new sanctions against 12 entities and 10 people for helping Belarus evade U.S. sanctions and support Russia’s “illegal” invasion of Ukraine.
The Bureau of Industry and Security recently met with a group of industry and university officials to hear about challenges plaguing export compliance professionals, including problems doing due diligence on foreign parties, lengthy timelines for export license applications and more.
OverRuled, a research platform managed by Akin Gump focused on government regulatory and enforcement data, has acquired sanctions guidance research system Turbofac, Akin Gump said last week. The firm said Turbofac, a database that compiles guidance statements and other documents from the Office of Foreign Assets Control, will make OverRuled an “essential one-stop-shop for sanctions professionals globally.” The terms of the deal weren’t disclosed.
The ranking member of the Senate Banking Committee said April 12 that he has asked the Treasury Department to provide “an accounting of all international high-value Iranian assets around the world that are currently blocked by U.S. sanctions.”
The Office of Foreign Assets Control on April 12 removed Bosnia and Herzegovina businessman Slobodan Stankovic and his Republika Srpska-based engineering firm, Integral Inzenjering, from the Specially Designated Nationals List. The agency sanctioned Stankovic in 2022 for ties to corruption (see 2210030015). OFAC didn’t release more information about the delistings, but news reports indicate Stankovic died last year.
China last week announced sanctions against two U.S. defense companies for supporting U.S. arms sales to Taiwan. The designations, imposed under China's anti-foreign sanctions law (see 2310230032), target General Atomics Aeronautical Systems and General Dynamics Land Systems by freezing their assets in China and placing travel bans on their senior managers, according to an unofficial translation of an April 11 notice from China’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs. The two companies didn’t respond to requests for comment.
The U.S. and the EU last week announced coordinated sanctions against Hamas by targeting people and entities with ties to the terror group.
The U.S. and the U.K. on April 12 expanded certain restrictions on Russia-related metals, including a new services ban on Russian aluminum, copper and nickel.
U.S. companies should expect more retaliation from China if the Bureau of Industry and Security adds more major Chinese technology firms to its Entity List this year, Paul Trulio, a China and technology policy expert, said during an event last week hosted by the Center for Strategic and International Studies. Trulio and other panelists also said it’s unclear exactly how a possible second Trump administration may tweak U.S. export control policy toward Beijing, but they said it’s possible former President Donald Trump, if reelected, could significantly increase restrictions on Chinese firms through potential financial sanctions and may pressure allies to do the same.
Switzerland on April 10 adopted the EU's sanctions listing of six individuals who support Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad, the Federal Council announced. Switzerland also adopted the EU's Guatemala listing of five individuals and its Sudan designations of six entities. The council said the new measures "contain exceptions for humanitarian activities." They entered into force on April 10.