The Bureau of Industry and Security on June 30 announced several policy changes designed to strengthen its administrative enforcement tools and penalties. Under the changes, outlined at the agency’s annual update conference by Matthew Axelrod, the agency’s top enforcement official, BIS will raise penalties for more serious violations; revise its policies surrounding its no-admit, no-deny settlements; begin offering settlement agreements that don’t include fines; and revise how the agency processes voluntary disclosures.
The U.K.'s Russian Elites, Proxies and Oligarchs Task Force has blocked or frozen over $30 billion in sanctioned Russian assets, the Office of Financial Sanctions Implementation announced. The task force has frozen or seized sanctioned individuals' "high-value goods," and restricted sanctioned individuals' access to the international financial system, OFSI said. Through coordination between REPO Task Force members, around $300 billion of Russian Central Bank assets have been frozen, various yachts and other vessels controlled by sanctioned Russians detained and access to the global financial system cut off.
The U.K. added new entries to its Russia and Syria sanctions regimes in a pair of notices June 29. Under its Russia sanctions list, the Office of Financial Sanctions Implementation added entries for eight individuals and five entities. The listed entities are the Joint Stock Company Marshal.Global, Joint Stock Company Moscow Industrial Bank, JSC Kolmar Group, JSC New Opportunities and R-Style Softlab.
The U.K. penalized energy company Tracerco for violating its sanctions regime on Syria, the Office of Financial Sanctions Implementation announced in a June 29 update. The penalty, which was imposed in May, was about $18,000 and for making funds available to benefit a sanctioned entity without a license from OFSI.
The Bureau of Industry and Security doesn’t have export control officers in Russia but has other means to monitor violations and to assess license applications, said Matthew Axelrod, the agency’s top export enforcement official. Although BIS can’t conduct end-use checks in the country, it can still turn to “open source reporting” and other intelligence when considering a license, Axelrod said. “We have a lot of different tools at our disposal to help inform the licensing process,” he said during a June 29 news conference.
The Bureau of Industry and Security this week announced a new initiative to improve the agency’s outreach to universities. The plan, outlined in a June 28 memo to export enforcement officials, is aimed at prioritizing outreach at universities that have an “elevated risk profile” and bolstering export control training at those schools. BIS also plans to assign dedicated agents to certain schools and conduct more “background briefings” with researchers on national security and technology risks.
Although the U.S. and allies are discussing creating a new multilateral export control framework, it’s too soon to tell whether those talks will result in a formal regime, said Alan Estevez, undersecretary of the Bureau of Industry and Security. He said the group of countries has “momentum” toward a new framework, but they haven’t yet agreed to establish a formal organization to replace some of the existing multilateral regimes, such as the Wassenaar Arrangement.
The Group of Seven leading industrial countries this week agreed to a range of trade-related objectives to help achieve a “rules-based multilateral order” and “universal human rights,” including a commitment to the World Trade Organization and further sanctions against Russia. The G-7 countries -- joined by leaders from Argentina, India, Indonesia, Senegal, South Africa and Ukraine -- said they will stand against Russia for “as long as it takes.”
A $325 million superyacht allegedly owned by Russian billionaire Suleiman Kerimov and seized by U.S. authorities in Fiji has docked in San Diego after a legal battle in the Asia-Pacific island, Bloomberg reported June 28. The Amadea arrived in San Diego June 27 after a few days in Honolulu. The U.S. hired a new crew in Fiji to sail the ship, leaving the island June 7.
Kambiz Attar Kashani, a dual U.S. and Iranian citizen, pleaded guilty to conspiring to illegally export U.S. goods, technology and services to end users in Iran, including to the Iranian government, DOJ announced June 28. Kashani used two United Arab Emirates companies to evade U.S. export laws between 2019 and 2021 by buying electronic goods, technology and services from U.S. companies without getting licenses from the Treasury Department's Office of Foreign Assets Control, DOJ said. Kashani took orders from the Central Bank of Iran -- a designated entity, as it provides support to known terrorist organizations, the U.S. said. The defendant faces a maximum of 20 years in prison, and he already has agreed to pay a $50,000 fine in addition to any owed forfeiture.