The U.K. amended one entry under its Myanmar sanctions regime, the Office of Financial Sanctions Implementation announced June 24. OFSI updated the entry for Sins Avia Trading House, a Russian company responsible for supplying aircraft parts and maintenance for the Myanmar Armed Forces since the February 2021 coup.
The Commerce Department published its spring 2022 regulatory agenda for the Bureau of Industry and Security, including two new mentions of rules that could result in new emerging technology export controls.
The U.S. on June 28 announced a host of new sanctions targeting Russia’s defense industrial base, including export restrictions against entities helping Moscow evade U.S. export controls and for illegally acquiring controlled U.S. items for Iran. The financial sanctions, announced by the Treasury and State Department, target more than 100 entities and 50 people, including Russia’s State Corporation Rostec, a “massive” state-owned technological, aerospace and military-industrial enterprise. Treasury also issued several new general licenses.
The U.S. and other G-7 member states plan to soon announce a host of new sanctions and trade restrictions against Russia, including new restrictions targeting Russia’s industrial and technology sectors. The countries also plan to announce enforcement actions relating to Russia’s sanctions evasion efforts, which will include new additions to the Commerce Department’s Entity List.
The U.K. amended 58 entries -- 20 people and 38 entities -- under its Russia sanctions regime and corrected another entry, the Office of Financial Sanctions Implementation said in a June 24 notice. OFSI updated various elements in the 58 amended entries. The individuals include Russian businesspeople and media executives, and the entities are banks, manufacturers and research institutions. The corrected entry is for Alexey Ivanovich Isaykin, Volga-Dnepr Group president and board member.
A senior Treasury Department official urged banks in the United Arab Emirates to look out for Russia-related sanctions evasion attempts, warning they could face steep penalties for poor due-diligence. Wally Adeyemo, Treasury’s deputy secretary, said the banks must be “exceedingly cautious in handling any Russia-related businesses.”
Liability under the U.K.'s Russia sanctions regime may be determined even when an offending party wasn't aware of or had no reasonable suspicion of the breach, so companies should review their internal sanctions compliance to ensure they have "comprehensive processes and procedures in place" to avoid sanctions risk, global law firm Sidley Austin said in a guidance.
A bipartisan group of senators last week introduced a bill that could place new controls on certain exports of U.S. personal data to foreign companies and governments. The Protecting Americans’ Data From Foreign Surveillance Act would require the Commerce Department, along with other agencies, to identify “categories of personal data” that could harm U.S. national security if they were exported, and to place export restrictions on those items.
The Bureau of Industry and Security on June 24 suspended the export privileges of three Russian airlines for violating U.S. export controls against Belarus. The agency issued 180-day temporary denial orders for Nordwind Airlines, Pobeda Airlines and Siberian Airlines, BIS said, banning all three airlines from participating in transactions subject to the Export Administration Regulations.
The EU General Court in a June 22 judgment rejected the application from businessman George Haswani to annul the European Council's decision maintaining his listing on the Syria sanctions regime, according to an unofficial translation. The court ruled the council gave sufficient precise and consistent evidence to show Haswani is an influential businessman in Syria given his interests in HESCO Engineering and Construction. This allowed the court to rule his listing should be maintained because Haswani failed to rebut the presumption that he is tied to the Syrian regime.