The former CEO of 500.com, which now operates as crypto mining company BIT Mining Ltd., was charged with violating the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act by paying bribes to Japanese government officials, DOJ announced. In addition, BIT Mining agreed to settle DOJ and SEC investigations into its FCPA violations, entering into a three-year deferred prosecution agreement with DOJ.
Chinese lidar company Hesai Technology filed an amended complaint in its suit against its designation as a Chinese military company after the Pentagon relisted the company (see 2410230018), arguing that the decision is "just as unsubstantiated and weak as the original one that they recently refused to defend" (Hesai Technology Co. v. Department of Defense, D.D.C. # 24-01381).
A new U.K. general license released this week authorizes certain payments involving sanctioned Iranian airline Iran Air. The license, effective Nov. 18, allows payments that are required to "exercise Iran's right" to "overfly the United Kingdom" or "make a Stop for Non-Traffic purposes in the United Kingdom" in line with the Convention on International Civil Aviation and its Annexes. The license also allows for payments from Iran Air for "contractual obligations that arose prior to Iran Air's designation in respect of ground services or airport services in the UK," including ticket refunds from canceled flights to or from the U.K., as long as no payments are made to another sanctioned party.
The EU expanded the scope of its sanctions framework on Russia to cover vessels and ports used to transfer Iranian-made unmanned aerial vehicles, missiles and related components for use in the war in Ukraine, the Council of the EU announced Nov. 18. The move bars the "export, transfer, supply, or sale from the EU to Iran of components used in the development and production of missiles and UAVs," the council said, and a ban on transactions with ports and locks that are owned or controlled by sanctioned parties or used to transfer Iranian UAVs, missiles or component parts to Russia.
A Venezuelan national was sentenced Nov. 14 to 30 months in prison for his role in a scheme to evade U.S. sanctions on Petroleos de Venezuela, a Venezuelan state-owned oil company, DOJ announced.
The EU asked the World Trade Organization to establish a compliance panel regarding Colombia's tariffs on frozen fries from the EU, the Directorate-General for Trade announced Nov. 14. The bloc decided to make the move after consultations between the parties fell through, the Directorate-General said.
The U.K. extended antidumping duties on steel ropes and cables from China, including on ropes and cables consigned from Morocco and South Korea, for another five years, until April 21, 2028. The duties range from 0% for Moroccan exporter Remer Maroc and certain South Korean exporters to 60.4% for all Chinese exporters and all other Moroccan and South Korean exporters. The duties specifically cover "steel ropes and cables including locked coil ropes, excluding ropes and cables of stainless steel, with a maximum cross-sectional dimension exceeding 3mm."
The transfer of certain customs issues from the EU Court of Justice to the EU General Court "could lead to faster and more specialized decisions," lawyers at Baker McKenzie said in a client alert earlier this month. Partner Arnoud Willems and associate Line Hammoud said the change potentially could make it easier for companies to "bring cases and achieve favorable outcomes."
A Ukrainian citizen last living in Estonia was sentenced on Nov. 13 to 33 months in prison for skirting U.S. export laws by trying to smuggle a dual-use export-controlled "500 Series CPWZ Precision Jig Grinder" to Russia, DOJ announced. Stanislav Romanyuk, who was charged in 2022 (see 2210200023), pleaded guilty to his role in the scheme, admitting to brokering the sale of the jig grinder from an Estonia-based company he operated.
Restrictive trade measures from 20 of the world's leading economies "significantly increased" over the past year, the World Trade Organization found in its 31st Trade Monitoring Report. While the Group of 20 countries also imposed 141 trade facilitating measures, the report said that from October 2023 to October 2024, G20 nations imposed 91 new trade-restrictive measures covering around $828.9 billion worth of goods, up from about $246 billion worth of goods in the last report, which covered restrictions imposed from mid-May to mid-October 2023.