The Office of Foreign Assets Control this week published a previously issued general license under its Global Magnitsky Sanctions Regulations. The notice includes the full text of the license, which authorizes certain transactions involving Tabacos USA, Tabacalera del Este or any entity they own by 50% or more (see 2303310033).
U.S. and EU sanctions authorities met April 26-28 to share best practices surrounding sanctions “design, implementation and compliance,” the Treasury Department said May 16. During the “technical” meetings -- held between officials with the Office of Foreign Assets Control, the European External Action Service and the European Commission -- the agencies “identified ways to align” sanctions implementation, promote compliance, improve enforcement and “address shared foreign policy challenges,” Treasury said. They also discussed ways to ensure sanctions don’t prevent humanitarian aid. “The partners have been working together to provide coordinated information to the compliance community and will continue to update and maintain their sanctions-related lists and published guidance,” Treasury said.
The Office of Foreign Assets Control this week sanctioned Russian national Mikhail Matveev for helping to launch cyberattacks against U.S. law enforcement, businesses and critical infrastructure. Matveev is a “central figure” in the development and deployment of several Russia-linked “ransomware variants,” OFAC said, including Hive, LockBit and Babuk. OFAC said the designation was announced alongside an indictment by DOJ and a $10 million reward by the State Department for information that leads to Matveev’s arrest or conviction.
President Joe Biden last week renewed a national emergency that authorizes certain sanctions against Yemen. Actions and policies of certain former members of the Yemeni government and others continue to “pose an unusual and extraordinary threat” to U.S. national security, the White House said. The emergency was extended for one year from May 16.
The Group of 7 countries this week are planning to announce new sanctions and export controls against Russia, including measures to target sanctions evasion by third countries, Reuters reported May 14. The new measures, which are expected during the G-7 summit in Japan May 19-21, will seek to further limit Russia’s energy production and target trade that is supporting Russia's military, the report said. U.S. officials also expect G-7 countries to expand export controls over certain categories of goods so that “all exports are automatically banned unless they are on a list of approved items,” the report said. The measures haven’t yet been finalized. The White House didn’t comment.
The Office of Foreign Assets Control removed Czech Republic-based Skoda JS A.S. from its Sectoral Sanctions Identifications List. The entity had been subject to certain Russia/Ukraine-related restrictions and had ties to Gazprombank, OFAC said. The agency didn’t immediately release more information.
World Bank borrower countries awarded 28 contracts to entities that may have been on U.S. sanctions or export control lists from 2017 to 2021, the Government Accountability Office said in a report released last week. The bank doesn't disqualify businesses on U.S. sanctions or watch lists, and all entities from all countries can bid for borrower contracts, the report said, except for certain entities debarred by the World Bank or sanctioned by the U.N.
President Joe Biden extended for one year beyond May 11 a national emergency that authorizes certain sanctions related to Syria. The Syrian government’s actions “with respect to chemical weapons and supporting terrorist organizations” continue to threaten national security, the White House said May 8.
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, which will be replaced May 15 beginning at 8 p.m. EDT. That could impact scripts and other automated processes that download the agency’s “list-related data products," OFAC said. The process will take about one hour “to be fully distributed worldwide,” it said. Users may need to update their configuration to trust the renewed certificate in order to prevent a “loss in functionality.”
The Office of Foreign Assets Control this week sanctioned Joaquin Guzman Lopez, the son of former Mexican drug lord Joaquin “El Chapo” Guzman Loera, along with three Sinaloa Cartel members and two Mexico-based entities for having ties to the cartel. OFAC said Guzman Lopez oversees “many aspects” of the Los Chapitos drug trafficking empire, which controls the Sinaloa Cartel. Raymundo Perez Uribe leads a supplier network used by the cartel to obtain precursor chemicals; Saul Paez Lopez coordinates illegal drug shipments; and Mario Esteban Ogazon Sedano buys precursor chemicals and operates illegal drug laboratories. The agency also sanctioned Sumilab, S.A. de C.V., a Sinaloa-based chemical and lab equipment company, and Urbanizacion, Inmobiliaria y Construccion de Obras, S.A. de C., a Sinaloa-based real estate business owned by Ogazon Sedano.