While a possible Kamala Harris administration would likely continue the current Biden administration’s approach of streamlining various denied-party lists through measured, phased-in updates, a Donald Trump-run government would probably pursue a “blunter approach” and spend less time on evaluating industry impact before putting in place sweeping new sanctions, the Rhodium Group said in a report last month. Although the report examines a hypothetical situation in which the U.S. adds companies from the Commerce Department’s Entity List to the Treasury Department’s sanctions list, it called that a “bazooka option” and said more likely scenarios include expanding the scope of the Treasury Department’s list of Chinese military companies subject to certain investment restrictions.

The U.K.’s Office of Financial Sanctions Implementation revised identifying information for Ri Pyong Chul under its North Korea sanctions list following a similar move by the U.N. Security Council (see 2409180005). The change lists his position as vice chairman of the Workers’ Party of Korea Central Military Commission.

The U.K. is warning its companies to look out for North Korean information technology workers who are disguising themselves as freelance IT workers from other countries to generate revenue for the North Korean government in violation of sanctions. An advisory recently issued by the Office of Financial Sanctions Implementation asks U.K. firms to report suspicious activity to the government and outlines how North Korean workers may try to secure freelance jobs with British businesses. It also lists a range of red flags U.K. companies should monitor and encourages them to only use “reputable” online freelance platforms for hiring freelance workers, conduct background checks, avoid payments in cryptocurrency and more.

The Office of Foreign Assets Control this week sanctioned five entities and one person involved with Russian and North Korean efforts to set up illegal payments mechanisms and help the countries evade sanctions. The designations target MRB Bank, based in the Russia-occupied Georgian region of South Ossetia, along with Russia-based TSMRBank, OOO; Russian Financial Corporation Bank JS; Stroytreyd LLC and Timer Bank, AO. OFAC also sanctioned Dmitry Yuryevich Nikulin, vice president of TSMRBank.

State Department officials have spoken with Cyprus industry representatives to train them on sanctions requirements, a State Department spokesperson said Sept 19. “Private sector implementation of sanctions is critical to their success,” the spokesperson said. “The Department of State has engaged Cypriot stakeholders to raise awareness on, promote best-practices in, and help implement relevant sanctions regimes.”

The U.S. and Canada this week sanctioned various Iranian government officials responsible for violence against the Iranian people, targeting members of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, officials with Iran’s Prisons Organization, and others responsible for suppressing protesters within the country or Iranians overseas.

The U.N. Security Council this week revised a North Korea-related entry on its sanctions list to update the person’s identifying information. The entry for Ri Pyong Chul now lists his position as vice chairman of the Workers’ Party of Korea Central Military Commission.

China last week announced sanctions against nine American defense companies and their senior executives for arms sales to Taiwan. The measures, taken under China’s anti-foreign sanctions law (see 2309270039 and 2310230032), target Sierra Nevada, S3 Aerospace Defense, ACT1 Federal, Cubic Corp. and others, according to an unofficial translation of a Sept. 18 notice from the country’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs. The ministry said the sanctions freeze those companies’ assets in China, and Chinese companies will be barred from doing certain business with their executives.

The Group of 7 nations and EU said they are preparing new sanctions in response to recent Iranian weapons transfers to Russia, following a similar statement by the Council of the European Union one day earlier (see 2409130036).

The U.S. sanctioned two Georgian government officials and two Georgian citizens for their ties to the violent suppression of peaceful protests and expression in the country.