The European Council on Dec. 8 added two Hamas military leaders to the EU terrorist list. Mohammed Deif, commander general of Hamas' military wing, and Marwan Issa, the deputy commander, are now subject to an asset freeze.
The U.K. this week designated 25 people and 20 entities under its Russia sanctions regime. The listings included a mix of businesses based in Russia, China, the United Arab Emirates, Turkey, Serbia and Uzbekistan, covering industries in the energy, shipping and defense sectors. Among those sanctioned was Russian firm Aeroscan, which was designated for supplying drones to the Russian military, along with Dubai-based shipping companies Radiating World Shipping Services and Star Voyages Shipping services, which do business in a Russian "sector of strategic significance."
One day after European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen told AFP that the bloc won't "tolerate" a trade imbalance with China, a Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson said China has never sought a trade surplus with Europe and pushed back on the notion that the trading relationship has hurt the EU.
Robert Wise, a New York-based lawyer who helped manage luxury properties for sanctioned Russian billionaire Viktor Vekselberg, was sentenced Dec. 5 to one year of house arrest followed by one year of probation. U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York Judge Mary Kay Vyskocil also levied a $100,000 fine against the lawyer, to be paid out in $8,333.33 monthly installments over the next year.
The U.S. charged Belgian national Hans Maria De Geetere this week in two separate indictments for allegedly helping to illegally export "military-grade technology" from the U.S. to end-users in China and Russia, DOJ said. The agency said the business owner tried to procure more than $2 million worth of illegal exports from undercover government agents, and told one Commerce Department agent that a shipment was destined for Belgium when it was actually meant for Hong Kong.
The convenors of e-commerce negotiations at the World Trade Organization -- Australia, Japan and Singapore -- are hoping the talks can conclude in early 2024, the WTO said. Unveiling a negotiating road map during a recent meeting, the three countries said the remaining few weeks of 2023 will focus "on bridging the gaps on outstanding issues, such as e-payments, telecommunications and information and communication technology products that use cryptography." Participants in the talks have now "parked" the negotiating text on privacy, the WTO added, raising the number of "parked," or temporarily concluded, topics to 13. Remaining topics include the "scope, exceptions and legal architecture of the future agreement."
The U.K.'s Solicitors Regulation Authority fined British law firm Ashfords LLP about $128,000 for violating the country's anti-money laundering and terrorist financing regulations. The U.K. said Ashfords, in helping a property investment company conduct a transaction, failed to discover or act on a potential link between the company and one of its sanctioned beneficial owners.
The European Commission on Dec. 1 sent the European Council the deal it reached with Japan on cross-border data flows to be included in the EU-Japan Economic Partnership Agreement. If the council authorizes it, the amendment to the EPA will be sent to the European Parliament for consent, after which it would take effect, the commission announced.
The EU General Court on Nov. 29 accepted the second application from Alexander Pumpyanskiy, son of Russian oligarch Dmitry Pumpyanskiy, to annul his sanctions relisting, according to an unofficial translation. The court rejected his claim for damages. Pumpyanskiy was sanctioned in March 2022 after Russia's invasion of Ukraine, because of his relationship to Dmitry Pumpyanskiy, and because he was president and board member of the Sinara Group.
The EU General Court on Nov. 29 rejected Russian oligarch German Khan's challenge to his sanctions listing, according to an unofficial translation. The listing criteria had a proper legal basis and were not disproportional, the court said.