The U.K.'s Office of Financial Sanctions Implementation on Aug. 4 updated its reporting forms for the general licenses pertaining to the oil price cap and ban on Russian oil services. Details are available on how to submit the forms.
The U.K.'s Office of Financial Sanctions Implementation in a pair of Aug. 8 notices added 19 entries to its Russia sanctions regime and six entries to its Belarus restrictions regime. The Russia sanctions additions include 10 people and nine entities, most relating to Iran's support for the Russian military's war in Ukraine. Many of the people designated were employees or executives at one of the listed companies, Paravar Pars Co., an aerospace research and engineering firm in Iran.
The U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York set a plea proceeding for former FBI agent Charles McGonigal in a case charging him with violating U.S. sanctions on Russia. Judge Jennifer Rearden set the Aug. 15 proceeding on word that McGonigal "may wish to enter" a guilty plea (U.S. v. Charles McGonigal, S.D.N.Y. # 23-00016).
Canada this week announced another set of sanctions against Iran, designating seven senior military officials, government officials and people working for “state-directed” companies. The officials and people have ties to entities that supply materials to Iran’s “repressive” national Law Enforcement Command or work for companies that make “lethal combat drones” used by Iran’s armed forces to “destabilize the region” or that are sent to Russia for its war against Ukraine, Canada said.
The Office of Foreign Assets Control this week issued new guidance to help companies, financial institutions, nongovernmental organizations and others understand what humanitarian activities are permitted under its Syria sanctions regulations. The seven-page guidance includes frequently asked questions OFAC said it has been receiving, covering topics related to caps on aid, crowdfunding, providing aid to areas controlled by the Syrian government, processing financial transactions, sending money to people in Syria, digital payment platforms, and exporting food, medicine and other goods to the country. It also stresses that OFAC’s authorizations allow transactions only where aid will benefit the Syrian people and not the government.
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Switzerland's State Secretariat for Economic Affairs on Aug. 3 added six people and one entity to its Myanmar sanctions regime following the EU's designation of the parties. The designations target Myanmar's Health and Sport Minister Thet Khaing Win; Quartermaster General Kyaw Swar Lin; Union Minister for Immigration and Population Myint Kyaing; and members of the State Administration Council. The listed entity is No 2 Mining Enterprise.
The European Council on Aug. 4 announced a humanitarian exemption for its Guinea-Bissau sanctions regime, which exempts certain restrictions from applying to the provision of funds where the "timely delivery" of humanitarian services is needed. The exemption can be used by various international organizations, including the U.N. or humanitarian organizations that have "observer status" with the U.N. General Assembly.
The State Department this week announced penalties on one person and four entities and their subsidiaries for illegal transfers under the Iran, North Korea and Syria Nonproliferation Act. The agency in a notice said the parties transferred items subject to multilateral control lists that contribute to weapons proliferation or missile production. The State Department barred them from making certain purchases of items controlled on the U.S. Munitions List and by the Arms Export Control Act and will suspend any current export licenses used by the entities. The agency also will bar them from receiving new export licenses for any goods subject to the Export Administration Regulations. The restrictions will remain in place for two years from the July 19 effective date.
The Congressional Research Service this month issued an updated version of its overview of the Committee on Foreign Investment in the U.S. The report notes Congress is proposing legislation to expand CFIUS jurisdiction over certain land purchases and potentially add the USDA secretary as a permanent member of the committee (see 2307280052 and 2307180022). CRS listed several items Congress should be considering, such as how the Treasury Department will implement any “new agriculture-related responsibilities in regulation and practice”; how “sufficient are CFIUS’ current authorities” now that five years have passed since the Foreign Investment Risk Review Modernization Act was enacted; and how the Commerce Department’s process of identifying emerging and foundational technologies for export controls is “facilitating or hindering CFIUS reviews of transactions related to such technologies.”