The coordinated export controls being levied against Russia by many of the world’s democracies could lay the framework for also cutting off sensitive technologies to China, said Martin Chorzempa, a China expert with the Peterson Institute for International Economics. The current controls against Russia, if “effectively implemented by enough other countries,” could “amount to a near blockade” of advanced technology exports to Russia, Chorzempa wrote March 7, and prove that coordinated controls are effective. He said these same plurilateral restrictions could be used against China in the future, or sooner if the country continues to supply Russia.
As global trade restrictions against Russia continue to increase, some companies are grappling with whether to fully exit the Russian market or rely on sanctions screening and temporary carve-outs to keep their operations afloat, lawyers and experts said in interviews this month. But the risks for a majority of businesses are quickly becoming too high, especially as sanctions are expected to grow more punishing.
David Wolber, former an attorney with Gibson Dunn, rejoined the firm as of counsel in its Hong Kong office, the firm announced. Before returning, he was global financial crime counsel for the Hong Kong bank HSBC and held a similar position for MUFG Bank. Wolber's practice will concern sanctions, export controls, Committee on Foreign Investment in the U.S. and foreign direct investment controls, and anti-bribery and anti-corruption proceedings.
To clear up congestion at Vietnam's northern border gates, Deputy Prime Minister Le Van Thanh instructed the Ministries of Health and Finance to build "green zones" -- or COVID-19-free zones -- in border gate areas, the state-run CustomsNews reported March 4. The zones will be built in coordination with local agencies to be consistent with Chinese customs regulations on COVID-19 prevention and control so goods can be exported and imported swiftly, the report said.
The Biden administration should close a sanctions “loophole” that allows Russian nationals to continue making “significant” deposits at U.S. banks and purchases of U.S. securities, Senate Foreign Relations Committee Chair Sen. Bob Menendez, D-N.J., said. He said the move would more closely align U.S. financial restrictions with those imposed by European allies and help cut off all access to the U.S. financial system for Russian elites who are “currently still able to keep sizable assets safe in the U.S. market.”
President Joe Biden extended national emergencies that authorize certain sanctions against Iran and Venezuela, the White House said March 3. Both emergencies were extended for one year from March 15, 2022, and March 8, 2022, respectively.
The U.N. Security Council on March 3 removed two entries from its ISIL (Da’esh) and al‑Qaida sanctions list and removed seven entries from its general sanctions list. The entries include Iraqi, Jordanian and Yemeni nationals.
Seven non-EU nations imposed sanctions measures adopted by the EU over Russia's invasion of Ukraine, the European Council said March 3. The countries are North Macedonia, Montenegro, Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Iceland, Liechtenstein and Norway imposed the EU's host of most-recent sanctions on Russia. Except for Liechtenstein, the same countries implemented the EU's Feb. 24 sanctions decision on Belarus, which extended the restrictions for another year and amended the sanctions entries for many of the listed individuals.
The G-7 countries and the EU said they plan to impose more sanctions against Russia and Belarus as long as Russia continues its military invasion of Ukraine. Although several “far-reaching economic and financial sanctions” have already been imposed, “further severe sanctions” are on the way, the foreign ministers of the U.S., Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, the U.K. and the EU said in a March 4 statement. The leaders also stressed to the Russian and Belarusian people that the sanctions are a “consequence” of the actions of their government. “President [Vladimir] Putin, and his government and supporters, and the [Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko] regime, bear full responsibility for the economic and social consequences of these sanctions,” the statement said.
The Office of Foreign Assets Control announced sanctions on Hezbollah financiers in Ghana. OFAC said in a March 4 press release that it is designating Ali Saade and Ibrahim Taher. All property and interests in property of Saade and Taher, and of any entities that are owned, directly or indirectly 50 percent or more by them that are in the U.S. or in the possession or control of U.S. persons, must be blocked and reported to OFAC.