Steven Emme, former chief strategy officer for the Bureau of Industry and Security, has joined Akin as an international trade partner, the firm announced. Emme worked multiple stints at the Commerce Department since 2007, including as BIS chief strategy officer beginning in 2023, before leaving earlier this year. His practice will focus on international trade and national security, including issues related to U.S. export control and sanctions regulations.
The Council of the European Union on Sept. 29 extended to Oct. 15, 2026, the individual sanctions regarding the situation in Nicaragua for another year. The sanctions cover 21 individuals and three entities and relate to the crackdown on dissent and the rule of law in Nicaragua.
The Office of Foreign Assets Control this week renewed a general license that authorizes payments of certain taxes, fees, import duties, licenses, certifications and other similar transactions involving the Central Bank of the Russian Federation, the National Wealth Fund of the Russian Federation and the Ministry of Finance of the Russian Federation that would normally be blocked under Directive 4 of Executive Order 14024. General License 13O, which replaces 13N, authorizes those transactions through 12:01 a.m. ET Jan. 9., as long as they're “ordinarily incident and necessary to the day-to-day operations in the Russian Federation of such U.S. persons or entities.” The license was scheduled to expire Oct. 9.
The U.N. Security Council on Sept. 28 reimposed all nuclear-related U.N. sanctions and restrictions against Iran that had been paused after the 2015 Iranian nuclear deal. The imposition of those so-called "snapback" sanctions came after France, Germany and the U.K., known as the E3, in August began the process to reimpose U.N. sanctions against Iran after accusing the country of failing to meet safeguards around its nuclear program (see 2508280033).
The Bureau of Industry and Security is rolling back a Biden-era interim final rule that increased restrictions on firearms exports, the agency said in a final rule effective Sept. 30. BIS said it decided that the rule should be “rescinded in its entirety” after hearing from U.S. firearms manufacturers that the controls “would cost them hundreds of millions of dollars per year in lost sales.”
A new interim final rule released by the Bureau of Industry and Security this week introduces a 50% ownership threshold rule for the Entity List and Military End-User List, a change that’s expected to drastically increase the number of companies subject to stringent export licensing restrictions. BIS also is adopting the rule, which it calls the “Affiliates rule,” for export transactions involving certain parties sanctioned by the Office of Foreign Assets Control, which BIS said will “align more closely” OFAC’s 50% rule with the new restrictions under the Export Administration Regulations.
The U.K.'s Office of Financial Sanctions Implementation issued a new general license last week that allows the government's revenue and customs agency to make certain payments to the frozen bank account of a person sanctioned under U.K. authorities. The revenue agency also may "set-off" the "amount of any Permitted Payment (as a credit) against any liability of the same UK [sanctioned person] to pay an amount to that Revenue Authority (as a debit)." The license took effect Sept. 26.
The Jewish Heritage in Syria Foundation (JHS), which represents Syrian Jews living in the diaspora, urged Congress on Sept. 25 to pass legislation to repeal the Caesar Syria Civilian Protection Act of 2019 without conditions.
Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang made the case last week for fewer export controls on the company’s chips, saying the U.S. government should allow Nvidia to “compete” in the Chinese market. He also avoided directly answering whether the company’s export license applications for China are being granted, despite the Trump administration announcing earlier this year that it planned to approve exports of Nvidia’s H20 chips in exchange for a cut of the sales revenue (see 2508220003).
European officials and Parliament members called on EU member states to double down on Russia-related sanctions implementation and enforcement, saying they know evasion is occurring, but countries have been too slow to act on sanctions rules or haven’t levied large enough penalties. They also expressed frustration that the EU hasn’t yet been able to confiscate frozen Russian assets for Ukraine, even as the European Commission said it’s preparing a proposal that would allow the bloc to indirectly use those funds while still complying with international law.