Although Chinese companies with little international exposure may decide to violate export restrictions against Russia, most of the larger companies likely won’t take the risk, experts said. So far, most Chinese companies are complying with the sanctions and only continuing to buy Russian oil and gas, the experts said, despite strong opposition to Western sanctions by the Chinese government.
The EU is looking at ways to bolster its sanctions enforcement regime and harmonize it across member states, the Financial Times reported. Mairead McGuinness, the EU's commissioner for financial stability, financial services and the capital markets union, said officials are contemplating opening a version of the U.S. Treasury Department's Office of Foreign Assets Control. McGuinness said the commission is looking at other enforcement measures as well, including forcing sanctioned parties to disclose their assets, syncing definitions of control across nations and broadening registers of beneficial ownership. The commission further requested reports from member states on sanctions enforcement, FT reported. Along these lines, the European Council requested the consent of the European Parliament to add the violation of restrictive measures to the list of EU crimes laid out in the Treaty on the Functioning of the EU to crack down on sanctions circumvention (see 2207010014).
The Office of Foreign Assets Control in June sanctioned a network of Iranian petrochemical producers along with Chinese and Emirati front companies that broker sales of Iranian petrochemicals to China and East Asia. In response, a spokesperson for China's Foreign Ministry expressed China's opposition to "illegal and unjustifiable unilateral sanctions" from the U.S. "We urge the US side to abandon the wrong practice of resorting to sanctions at every turn and contribute positively to negotiations on resuming compliance with the JCPOA," the spokesperson said July 7 during a regular press conference in China, according to an English translation of the transcript provided. "The international community, including China, has conducted normal cooperation with Iran within the framework of international law. This is reasonable and lawful without harm done to any third party, and deserves to be respected and protected."
China will officially begin security reviews for certain data exports Sept. 1, Reuters reported July 7, allowing China to regulate how its companies can send the information overseas. The reviews could capture past transactions conducted by a range of firms, including any entities that have sent personal information overseas belonging to 100,000 or more users, or “sensitive" personal information of 10,000 or more users, since Jan. 1, 2021, the report said.
The U.S. should closely monitor Chinese attempts to steal sensitive information and technology from universities, but not in a way that will sacrifice open academic exchanges, said Christine Fox, a former Defense Department official, speaking during a July 7 Brookings Institution event. She said the threat of trade theft from China is real, but the number of foreign Chinese students and researchers who try to steal technology is just a small percentage of the total.
The U.K. Office of Financial Sanctions Implementation announced that it amended one entry under its Belarus sanctions regime -- updating the listing information for LLC Synesis, which provided Belarus with a video surveillance and monitoring system -- and one under its North Korea sanctions list -- updating the listing for Pak Chun Il, North Korea's ambassador to Egypt.
The Office of Foreign Assets Control this week revised a Belarus-related entry on its Specially Designated Nationals List. The change updates identifying information for Belarusian Oil Trade House, which was sanctioned in 2008.
The Office of Foreign Assets Control this week renewed a Venezuela-related license that authorizes certain transactions related to exports or reexports of liquefied petroleum gas to Venezuela (see 2107120054). General License No. 40A, which replaces General License No 40, is valid through 12:01 a.m. EDT July 12, 2023. The license was scheduled to expire July 8.
The Bureau of Industry and Security's recent shift in enforcement policies and strategy could “significantly” increase risks for companies, law firms said, especially those based in the U.S. The changes could cause businesses to invest more in compliance, they said, and could lead to a more aggressive BIS enforcement posture.
Rachel Fiorill, former enforcement section chief at the Treasury Department's Office of Foreign Assets Control, joined Morrison Foerster as of counsel in the Washington, D.C., office, the firm announced. Fiorill most recently worked at Paul Weiss, where she advised clients on "economic sanctions, Bank Secrecy Act/Anti-Money Laundering," anti-corruption and export control proceedings. While at OFAC, Fiorill led investigations of hundreds of enforcement actions, serving as coordinator for the Enforcement Division's Ukraine, Russia and Syria-related investigations, Morrison Foerster said.