The Office of Foreign Assets Control published in the Federal Register the texts of nine previously issued Venezuela-related General Licenses, including one that is still active. The licenses are Venezuela GLs 8, 8A, 8B, 8C, 8D, 8E, 8F, 8G and 8H. GL 8H (see 2106020003), which expires Dec. 1, authorizes certain transactions between Venezuela's state-owned energy company Petróleos de Venezuela, S.A. (PdVSA) and Chevron, Halliburton, Schlumberger, Baker Hughes and Weatherford International.
The Office of Foreign Assets Control on Oct. 22 updated a Mexico-related entry on its Specially Designated Nationals List. The agency updated the entry for Jaime Humberto Gonzalez Higuera, who was sanctioned in September (see 2109220032) for having ties to a Mexican drug cartel.
The State Department is reviewing whether to continue to designate the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam as a foreign terrorist organization, the agency said in a notice. It is accepting written statements or “other documentary materials” on the group’s FTO status, which must be submitted by Nov. 2. The Sri Lanka-based Liberation Tigers were designated in 1997. The FTO designation imposes certain sanctions on the group.
The Office of Foreign Assets Control published in the Federal Register the texts of four previously issued Venezuela-related General Licenses. GLs 7, 7A, 7B, and 7C outline authorizations for certain transactions with PDV Holding and Citgo Holding for 18-month periods (see 2110010034).
The Office of Foreign Assets Control released a guidance aimed to help the "virtual currency industry navigate and comply with OFAC sanctions," it said Oct. 15. The guide includes a set of frequently asked questions and case studies about virtual currencies and sanctions.
A recent sanctions enforcement case highlighted the various export compliance hurdles associated with sales through overseas distributors, which is becoming one of the “greatest areas of export compliance risk,” Williams Mullen said in an Oct. 13 alert. In the case, the Office of Foreign Assets Control said Texas-based NewTek sold products to third-country distributors despite having knowledge those products were intended for an Iran-based reseller (see 2109100007), which ultimately led to sanctions violations.
President Joe Biden extended a national emergency that authorizes certain sanctions against narcotics traffickers in Colombia, the White House said Oct. 12. The traffickers continue to pose an “unusual and extraordinary threat” to U.S. security and cause “an extreme level of violence, corruption, and harm in the United States and abroad.” The emergency was extended for one year beyond Oct. 21.
President Joe Biden extended a national emergency that authorizes certain sanctions against Syria, the White House said Oct. 7. The situation in Syria continues to undermine the U.S. campaign to defeat the Islamic State group, “endangers civilians,” threatens stability in the region and poses a threat to U.S. national security and foreign policy, the White House said. The emergency was extended for one year beyond Oct. 14.
The Office of Foreign Assets Control on Oct. 8 removed Iran-based Mammut Industrial Group, its subsidiary Mammut Diesel and their aliases from the Specially Designated Nationals List. The entities, which produced and supplied military-grade, dual-use goods for Iran’s missile programs, were sanctioned in September 2020.
President Joe Biden will nominate former State Department official James O’Brien to be the agency’s coordinator for sanctions policy, the White House announced Oct. 6. O’Brien currently works at international advisory firm Albright Stonebridge but previously was the U.S. presidential envoy for hostage affairs from 2015 to 2017 and senior adviser to the secretary of state from 1989 to 2001, when he also served as a presidential envoy for the Balkans. The White House said O’Brien led a “large and successful sanctions program” during his time at the State Department and has negotiated agreements to protect intellectual property rights for scientific cooperation with China.