Sen. Tim Scott, R-S.C., the ranking member on the Senate Banking Committee, and eight other committee Republicans urged the Biden administration Dec. 5 to step up implementation and enforcement of sanctions on Iran’s oil sector to deprive Tehran of funding for terrorism and nuclear weapons development.
Western countries should impose additional sanctions on Belarus for supplying Russia’s war machine, helping Moscow evade sanctions and indoctrinating Ukrainian children abducted by Russia, three witnesses told the congressionally led U.S. Helsinki Commission Dec. 5.
The U.K. on Dec. 6 corrected a sanctions listing it made earlier in the week related to domestic counterterrorism efforts (see 2412030021). The Office of Financial Sanctions Implementation listed Brian Sheridan under suspicions that he was providing financial assistance to members of the New Irish Republican Army. OFSI updated his listing to note that he has a U.K. passport.
The Office of Foreign Assets Control last week issued another reminder for users of its website to fill out a survey (see 2410110053) that will give OFAC feedback on how it can streamline the site’s navigation and improve its “sanctions guidance, resource accessibility, and user experience.” The survey closes Dec. 30.
The State Department is finalizing an April proposed rule that will raise fees for registration with the Directorate of Defense Trade Controls, the agency’s first fee increase in 15 years (see 2404230033).
House Select Committee on China Chairman John Moolenaar, R-Mich., urged the Bureau of Industry and Security Dec. 4 to close several “loopholes” in its new export controls on advanced computing chips and chipmaking equipment (see 2412020016).
The incoming Trump administration could look to continue expanding the scope of U.S. foreign direct product rule restrictions, which could lead to enforcement challenges or push foreign companies to design U.S. components out of their supply chains, think tank scholars said last week.
Pete Jeydel, a former lawyer with Steptoe, has joined Troutman Pepper as a partner to lead the sanctions and trade controls practice, the firm announced. Jeydel's practice centers on export controls and sanctions and "related areas" such as the new outbound investment security program, the firm said.
The U.K. on Dec. 5 officially updated guidance for its various sanctions regimes to reflect the passage of legislation earlier this year that gives its sanctions agency greater intelligence-gathering and enforcement powers (see 2411260013). An update to the U.K.’s Russia-related sanctions guidance said the U.K. made a “range of technical changes with the purpose of improving” the Office of Financial Sanctions Implementation’s “ability to gather intelligence on industry’s compliance with financial sanctions, strengthen OFSI’s enforcement powers, enable OFSI to conduct its licensing responsibilities more efficiently, and clarify financial sanctions legislation where there is existing uncertainty.” The country made similar updates to its guidance for sanctions against Belarus, North Korea, Syria, Iran, Venezuela and Myanmar.
Sen. Jerry Moran, R-Kan., introduced a bill this week to delay implementation of the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network’s new beneficial ownership information (BOI) reporting rule by at least a year.