The Office of Foreign Assets Control last week sanctioned Yin Kecheng, a Shanghai-based hacker, and Sichuan Juxinhe Network Technology Co., LTD., a China-based cybersecurity company, for their roles in cyber attacks against the U.S. OFAC said Yin was involved in the recent reported hacking of the Treasury Department by the Chinese government (see 2501020009) and Juxinhe Network has ties to the Salt Typhoon cyber group, which recently hacked the networks of multiple major U.S. telecommunications and internet service providers.
The U.S. last week sanctioned the Yemen Kuwait Bank for Trade and Investment, a Yemeni bank that it said has given financial support to the Yemen-based Houthis. The Treasury Department said the Houthis, listed by the U.S. as a specially designated global terrorist last year (see 2401170025), use the bank to launder money, transfer funds, and create and finance front companies.
The U.K. amended the sanctions listing of Russian energy company Gazprom Neft under the Russia sanctions regime. The Office of Financial Sanctions Implementation updated the business registration number of the company.
President Joe Biden this week removed references to Turkey from a 2019 executive order that authorizes certain sanctions against Syria. The order had partly authorized certain sanctions against people and entities associated with “recent actions by the Government of Turkey to conduct a military offensive into northeast Syria,” including former or current government officials and companies operating in certain sectors of the Turkish economy.
The U.S. this week sanctioned Abdel Fattah Al-Burhan for being the leader of the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF), the group locked in monthslong fighting with the country’s Rapid Support Forces that has harmed innocent civilians, the Treasury Department said. The agency also sanctioned Ahmad Abdalla, who is a Sudanese-Ukrainian national working for Defense Industries System, the primary procurement arm of the SAF, and Portex Trade Limited, which is a Hong Kong-based company controlled by Abdalla.
The Office of Foreign Assets Control this week sanctioned two people and four entities for helping the North Korean government earn revenue overseas, including through information technology workers stationed around the world.
The European Council on Jan. 13 extended its sanctions on those who support or enable violent actions taken by Hamas and the Palestinian Islamic Jihad for one year, until Jan. 20, 2026. The sanctions cover 12 people and three entities.
A new U.K. general license issued Jan. 14 allows certain people and entities to "make funds available" to sanctioned parties to pay for food and beverages, medicines and medical products, and personal and household products. The license, issued by the U.K.'s Office of Financial Sanctions Implementation, authorizes those transactions for up to two months after the party was sanctioned, and the payments can't exceed about $426 per month. The license doesn't apply to certain sanctioned parties, including those designated under a counter-terrorism regime or by the U.N. It takes effect Jan. 15.
The Office of Foreign Assets Control deleted more than 20 entries from its Specially Designated Nationals List this week, including people and entities tied to Switzerland, Venezuela, Malta, Panama, Zimbabwe, Colombia, Mexico, Honduras and elsewhere.
The Office of Foreign Assets Control this week published a memorandum of understanding with the U.K.’s Office of Financial Sanctions Implementation that the two agencies are using to share information about national security threats and collaborate on sanctions enforcement and compliance. The memorandum, dated October 2024, builds on a partnership the two sides started in 2022, which has included swapping officials as part of an employee embed program, working together on sanctions guidance and better harmonizing their designations (see 2411190025 and 2311170038).