The U.S. Department of the Treasury's Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) is issuing an OFAC Compliance Communiqué: Guidance for the Provision of Humanitarian Assistance to the Palestinian People in response to questions from the NGO community and the general public on how to provide humanitarian assistance while complying with OFAC sanctions. Neither Gaza nor the West Bank are subject to jurisdiction-based sanctions or an embargo by OFAC. Further, OFAC authorizes limited transactions with blocked persons to the extent such dealings are ordinarily incident and necessary to certain humanitarian activity,
The House Financial Services Committee passed 11 bills last week sanctioning Iran and Hamas, in response to the Tehran's role in funding Hamas militants responsible for the Oct. 7 attacks on Israel. Some bills sought to rein in the Biden administration's dealings with the Iranian regime. Others were meant to "ensure that any humanitarian assistance to Iran is not used to finance acts of terror," according to a press release from the committee. It remains to be seen if House Leadership has the discipline and motivation to bring the bills to a successful resolution in any measurable period of time.
House Foreign Affairs Committee Chairman Michael McCaul (R-Texas) wants to know the reasoning behind the Administration’s decision to lift sanctions on the Maduro regime in Venezuela. “The regime will enrich itself from this Administration’s sanctions relief while the Venezuelan people remain without a viable path for free and fair elections,” he wrote.
Britian's National Crime Agency has issued an alert warning that Russia is using gold as a means to undermine the impact of the UK sanctions regime. Given the importance of the UK to the gold market, the NCA is warning of deliberate attempts are being made to launder sanctioned gold to mask its origin so that it can be hidden in supply chains and sold in the UK and around the world.
President Biden has continued for one year the investment restrictions placed on Chinese securities associated with the PRC's Civil-Military Fusion (CMF) industrial policy. The restrictions include tradeing is securities of Chinese firms in the defense sector, as well as entities deemed controlled by the Chinese Communist Party.
The United States on November 3 placed sanctions on a Russian national for allegedly helping Russian elites launder and transfer money using virtual currency in contravention of sanctions …
The U.S. State Department designated two former ministers and one current vice minister from Guatemala due to their involvement in "significant corruption," an Oct. 31 statement reads.
In a coordinated effort with Canada and the United Kingdom, the Treasury Department’s Office of Foreign Assets Control published a new directive Oct. 31 that prohibits certain financial services by US persons to or for the benefit of Myanma Oil and Gas Enterprise, as well as five military regime appointed officials and officers.
The U.S. Treasury's Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) recently added eight individuals and four entities to its specially designated nationals list in response to the Hamas attacks on Oct. 7.
A bipartisan group of U.S. lawmakers has introduced legislation calling on the Biden administration to impose sanctions on 49 top Hong Kong justice officials and judges for whittling away basic rights. The Hong Kong Sanctions Act requires the president to determine whether certain Hong Kong officials violated human rights and sanctions should be imposed in accordance with the Global Magnitsky Human Rights Accountability Act, the Hong Kong Human Rights and Democracy Act of 2019, or the Hong Kong Autonomy Act.
Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) announced sanctions on a sweeping roster of individuals and entities from People’s Republic of China (PRC), Türkiye, and the United Arab Emirates (the UAE) abetting Russia’s war against Ukraine by providing Russia with technology and equipment from third countries. The U.S. Department of State is also issuing nearly 100 sanctions today targeting Russia’s future energy production and revenue, metals and mining sector, defense procurement, and those involved in supporting the Russian government’s war effort and other malign activities.
In a coordinated effort with Canada and the UK, Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) published a new directive that prohibits certain financial services by U.S. persons to or for the benefit of Myanma Oil and Gas Enterprise (MOGE), as well as five military regime appointed officials and officers.
The Federal government announced the filing of a civil forfeiture complaint against the Motor Yacht Amadea, a 348-foot luxury vessel reportedly worth over $300 million. The Complaint alleges that the superyacht, which is beneficially owned by Russian oligarch Suleiman Kerimov, was improved and maintained in violation of applicable sanctions against Kerimov and those acting on his behalf.
Two House bills seek to enforce sanctions on Iranian petroleum transactions.
Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) is designating two individuals and four entities that form a core part of Specially Designated National (SDN) and Republika Srpska (RS) President Milorad Dodik’s patronage network. Members of this network, which include Dodik’s adult children, facilitate Dodik’s ongoing corruption in Bosnia and Herzegovina’s (BiH) RS entity, allowing him to siphon public funds from the RS and enrich himself and his family at the expense of BiH citizens and functional governance in the country.
In response to the signing of an electoral roadmap agreement between Venezuela’s Unitary Platform and representatives of Maduro, Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) issued 4 General Licenses suspending select sanctions. The G/Ls permit limited trading in Oil, Gold and certain Venezuelan sovereign bonds and PdVSA debt and equity.
In a move aimed at curbing Iran's ballistic missile and unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) programs, the U.S. Treasury's Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) has imposed sanctions on 11 individuals, eight entities, and one vessel spread across Iran, Hong Kong, the People's Republic of China (PRC), and Venezuela. These entities have allegedly supported Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), Ministry of Defense and Armed Forces Logistics (MODAFL), or their subordinates in the development and proliferation of missiles and UAVs.
The Price Cap Coalition released a Maritime Safety Advisory, emphasizing responsible trading in the maritime oil industry and compliance with the price caps. The Advisory, which is directed at both government and private sector actors involved in the maritime trade of crude oil and refined petroleum products, provides recommendations concerning specific best practices and reflects our commitment to promoting responsible practices in the industry, preventing and disrupting sanctioned trade, and enhancing compliance with the price cap.
The Treasury Department announced it has imposed sanctions on seven individuals and four entities based in Iran, the People’s Republic of China, Russia and Türkiye in connection with Iran’s unmanned aerial vehicle and military aircraft development.
Treasury's Office of Foreign Assets Control sanctioned two commercial entities related to the conflict in Sudan, as well as five entities and two individuals involved in the procurement of sensitive parts for Iran’s one-way attack unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) program. Elsewhere, OFAC sanctioned several Sinaloa Cartel affiliates and fugitives affiliated with Mexico’s Sinaloa Cartel. Responsible for a significant portion of the illicit fentanyl and other deadly drugs trafficked into the United States, the Sinaloa Cartel is one of the world’s most damaging transnational criminal organizations. Additionally, OFAC sanctioned the leader of the Clan del Golfo, one of Colombia’s largest criminal enterprises that controls most of the country’s cocaine cultivation, production, and transportation routes.