Fenwick & West will open an office in Washington, D.C., adding two partners for the new office, the firm announced on Aug. 31. Thomas Ensign and Melissa Duffy will both serve as partners in Fenwick's Antitrust and Trade Regulation practice. Duffy, who comes from Dechert, "advises on export controls, sanctions, trade policy, programs under the Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC), regulation of emerging technologies, digital trade, CFIUS and national security issues involving U.S. agencies," Fenwick said. Ensign is an antitrust adviser on issues including intellectual property agreements, distribution arrangements and joint ventures. Fenwick, which says it concentrates on serving the technology and life sciences industries, has offices in California, New York City, Seattle and Shanghai.
OFAC sanction activity
The Office of Foreign Assets Control fined the United Kingdom-based Bank of China more than $2.3 million for processing more than 100 transactions that violated then-U.S. sanctions against Sudan, according to an enforcement order. The bank illegally exported financial services from the U.S. when it processed about $40 million worth of transactions through the U.S. financial system on behalf of parties in Sudan, OFAC said Aug. 26.
The Office of Foreign Assets Control is alerting users of its website and sanctions list data files of upcoming technical changes. The agency is beginning its annual renewal of the public certificate for its website, including its sanctions list downloads, and said its existing certificate will be replaced Sept. 1 at 9 p.m. The process will take about three to six hours, OFAC said. Users may need to update their configuration to trust the renewed certificate “if your application pins or otherwise trusts the serial number of the existing certificate as part [of] your application functionality,” OFAC said. OFAC said all applications should trust the new certificate by Sept. 1 to “prevent loss in functionality.” The notice includes a link to the new certificate and renewing instructions.
A Romanian bank and its U.S. parent company were fined about $860,000 by the Office of Foreign Assets Control for violating U.S. sanctions against Iran and Syria, OFAC said in an enforcement notice. Romania-based First Bank SA processed nearly 100 transactions worth about $3.5 million through U.S. banks on behalf of sanctioned parties, the notice said. The bank continued to process transactions for Iranian customers after it was acquired by U.S.-based JC Flowers in 2018.
The Office of Foreign Assets Control extended a general license that authorizes U.S. academic institutions to exports certain “online educational services” and software to Iran, the agency said Aug. 24. General License M-1, which replaces General License M (see 2010290043), was extended through 12:01 a.m. EDT Sept. 1, 2022. The original license was scheduled to expire Sept. 1, 2021.
The Office of Foreign Assets Control on Aug. 24 sanctioned three Paraguayan people and five companies for corruption. The sanctions target Kassem Mohamad Hijazi for controlling a money laundering organization and Khalil Ahmad Hijazi and Liz Paola Doldan Gonzalez for working with Kassem Mohamad Hijazi. OFAC also designated the companies Espana Informatica S.A., Mobile Zone International Import-Export S.R.L., Apolo Informatica S.A., Emprendimientos Inmobiliarios Misiones S.A., and Mundo Informatico Paraguay S.A.
The Office of Foreign Assets Control on Aug. 23 announced sanctions against a high-level Eritrean military official for his role in human rights abuses committed during the ongoing conflict in Tigray. Gen. Filipos Woldeyohannes, chief of staff of the Eritrean Defense Forces, was added to the Specially Designated Nationals list on the same date. Filipos was designated under the Magnitsky Act “for being a leader or official of an entity that is engaged in serious human rights abuse,” the OFAC release said.
The Office of Foreign Assets Control recently sanctioned three Cuban government officials for their roles in connection with the suppression of protests in the country, it said. The agency added Roberto Legra Sotolongo and Andres Laureano Gonzalez Brito of the Cuban Ministry of Revolutionary Armed Forces, as well as Abelardo Jimenez Gonzalez of the Cuban Ministry of Interior, to the Specially Designated Nationals List on Aug. 19. The designations mark the fourth round of sanctions since pro-democracy protests started in Cuba on July 11.
The State Department and the Office of Foreign Assets Control recently announced a series of sanctions against Russia, including import restrictions on firearms and the designation of entities and individuals connected the poisoning of Russian opposition figure Aleksey Navalny. Coming on the one-year anniversary of Navalny’s poisoning with Novichok nerve agent, the new sanctions are being carried out “in concert” with the United Kingdom, State said.
Several U.S. and multinational companies recently disclosed potential U.S. sanctions violations or updated previous disclosures. The cases involve a destruction of evidence in a sanctions investigation, potentially illegal transactions with Iran, a gaming software company and others.