The EU this week officially lifted sanctions against Syria (see 2505210030) except for certain restrictions related to the Bashar Assad regime and "those related to security," the European Commission said. "The EU stands ready to support the Syrian people in the rebuilding of their country, based on a Syrian-led and Syrian-owned process that provides for its people," the commission said. "The EU will continue monitoring developments on the ground, including inclusiveness, progress on reforms and accountability with regard to recent violence outbreaks, as well as the effects of the lifting of economic sanctions."
The Office of Foreign Assets Control this week sanctioned Philippines-based Funnull Technology Inc. and its administrator, Liu Lizhi, for providing computer infrastructure for hundreds of thousands of websites involved in virtual currency investment scams. OFAC said Americans lose billions of dollars annually in these scams, which are known as "pig butchering."
President Donald Trump this week said he hasn't yet decided to impose new sanctions against Russia because he believes it could still hurt the possibility of a peace deal between Russia and Ukraine.
The U.K. on May 28 corrected seven entries on its Russia sanctions regime, including one person and six entities. The Office of Financial Sanctions Implementation corrected the listing for Igor Bystrov, deputy director of MT-Systems and owner of Semirtek DOO, and six Russian and Chinese defense companies. The companies are Atoma LLC, MT-Systems, Pioneer Trade, Shanghai New Chess Co., Shanghai New Chess International Logistics Co. and LLC Responsibility "Market Special Depository."
New FAQs issued by the Office of Foreign Assets Control on May 28 provide more guidance on U.S. sanctions relief for Syria (see 2505230073), including what types of transactions are authorized, what Syria-related sanctions the U.S. is still enforcing and more. The FAQs stress that U.S. banks can process transactions by, to and through the Central Bank of Syria and that the sanctions relief doesn't remove any existing authorizations for humanitarian aid.
The U.K. recently removed or amended entries from its ISIL (Da'esh) and al-Qaida, Zimbabwe, and Russia sanctions regimes.
The Trump administration confirmed this week it will not renew a general license from the Office of Foreign Assets Control that has allowed Chevron to wind down certain oil activities in Venezuela.
The Office of Foreign Assets Control released another video May 23 in its ongoing effort to provide guidance on U.S. sanctions programs and rules. The latest episode provides an overview of how to contact the OFAC Compliance Hotline to submit questions about U.S. sanctions compliance and OFAC resources. The agency's other videos offer a tutorial on using its sanctions list search tool (see 2401190016), an introduction to U.S. sanctions programs (see 2307280070), and an introduction to blocking and non-blocking sanctions (see 2308280047).
The State Department last week notified Congress that the Sudanese government used chemical weapons in 2024 and isn't in compliance with the Chemical Weapons Convention. As a result, the U.S. plans to impose new sanctions against Sudan, including restrictions on U.S. exports to Sudan and on access to U.S. government lines of credit, following a 15-day Congressional notification period. The sanctions will take effect on the date of publication of a notice in the Federal Register, which is expected around June 6.
The U.K. this week renewed its Russia sanctions license that authorizes certain payments to charities linked to sanctioned parties. The license authorizes transactions by interim managers or trustees appointed by the Charity Commission for England and Wales. Under the license, which now runs through May 30, 2028, interim managers or trustees may authorize payments for the basic needs of the charity, to disperse charitable funds and to "wind up" the charity. The license was scheduled to expire May 30.