The United Kingdom’s Office of Financial Sanctions Implementation corrected 26 entries under its Venezuela sanctions regime, an Aug. 4 notice said. The corrections add and remove identifying information for the entries, which remain subject to an asset freeze.

The United Kingdom on July 31 imposed sanctions against six people and three entities responsible for cyberattacks. The designations mirror the European Union's July 30 measures against North Korean, Chinese and Russian cyberattackers (see 2007310007). The U.K. recently issued details for its post-Brexit cyber sanctions regime (see 2006220018).

The Council of the European Union renewed its terrorism sanctions regime for six months and added an entry to its ISIL (Da’esh) and al-Qaida sanctions regime, a July 30 notice said. The new designation is French national Bryan D’Ancona. The United Kingdom sanctioned D’Ancona July 31.

Iran announced sanctions on Richard Goldberg, a former aide to former U.S. National Security Adviser John Bolton, the Iranian government said Aug. 2, according to an unofficial translation. Goldberg, a senior adviser at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies, called the designation a “badge of honor.” Bolton said “drawing sanctions from the corrupt Iranian regime for ‘economic terrorism’ shows the effectiveness of [Goldberg’s] work.”

The State Department expanded its sanctions regime on Iran’s metal sector (see 2001170042 and 1912170029) to capture 22 more “specific materials” used in Iran’s nuclear, military and ballistic missiles programs, the agency said July 30. Any person or company who knowingly transfers the metals to Iran may be subject to sanctions under the Irani Freedom and Counter-Proliferation Act, the agency said.

The U.S. renewed a national emergency declaration authorizing sanctions against people and entities that undermine Lebanon’s democratically elected government, the White House said July 29. The national emergency due to the threat to U.S. national security posed by violence and political instability in Lebanon was extended for one year beyond the Aug. 1, 2020, expiration date.

The Council of the European Union on July 30 imposed its first sanctions against responsible parties behind cyberattacks, which it said were perpetrated by Chinese, Russian and North Korean individuals and entities. The designations target six people and three entities for attacks against the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons and multinational companies in the EU. Designated are: Gao Qiang, Zhang Shilong, Alexey Valeryevich Minin, Aleksei Sergeyvich Morenets, Evgenii Mikhaylovich Serebriakov, Oleg Mikhaylovich Sotnikov, Tianjin Huaying Haitai Science and Technology Development Co. Ltd., Chosun Expo and the Main Centre for Special Technologies (GTsST) of the Main Directorate of the General Staff of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation.

Two senators plan to address the lack of regulation in the art industry after the Senate’s Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations released a July 29 report detailing how Russian oligarchs have used the industry to evade U.S. sanctions. The report calls the art industry the “largest legal, unregulated market” in the U.S., saying it has been exploited for money laundering to aid U.S.-sanctioned people and companies, allowing them to conduct million-dollar transactions. The industry is not subject to anti-money laundering and anti-terrorism financing controls for transactions, the report said, and private art dealers are not required to comply with anti-money laundering requirements.

The Office of Foreign Assets Control revised an entry under its Cuba sanctions regime, a July 30 notice said. The revision changes the entry for Havana International Bank to Havin Bank Limited to reflect a name change.

The European Union renewed its North Korea sanctions for one year, it said July 30. The sanctions include 59 people and nine entities for supporting North Korea’s weapons programs and for sanctions evasion.