The U.N. Security Council and the U.K. recently amended 16 North Korea-related entries on their sanctions lists. The entries include bankers, nuclear researchers and procurers, and military officials.

Several recent applications of Italy’s foreign direct investment regime “appear to be the bellwether” for how the new government plans to approach future FDI reviews, Cleary Gottlieb said in a June 30 client alert.

The European Commission on June 30 created two new tariff-rate quotas for steel goods released for free circulation in Northern Ireland from other parts of the U.K. The new TRQs, under the bloc's steel safeguard regulation and effective July 1, will allow Northern Ireland companies to use the EU's steel TRQs to access British-origin steel in the two categories without paying the 25% tariff, the commission said.

The EU should impose an embargo on Russian liquefied natural gas imports to achieve its pursuit of banning all Russian fossil-fuel shipments into the bloc by 2027, Brussels-based think tank Bruegel said this week. The think tank said the EU "can manage" without the LNG imports, adding that the impact would not be comparable to the tremors felt from the wind down of Russian pipeline gas imports.

A new law announced by the U.K. June 29 could prevent lawyers from providing legal services to Russian companies in "certain business deals -- thwarting the nation from benefitting economically from" British legal services, the Ministry of Justice said. The rules are meant to build on existing restrictions imposed on Russia covering the provision of legal services by also extending these restrictions "to facilitate certain commercial activity which benefits the country." The legislation could also block "legal professionals" from advising international companies on lending decisions to Russian companies, the ministry said.

The U.K. varied the antidumping duty on heavy plate of non-alloy or other alloy steel products from China to apply for five years, running from March 1, 2022, until March 1, 2027, the Department for International Trade announced. The duties, ranging from 65.1% to 73.7%, include a 73.7% rate for all companies not given an individual rate by the department.

The European Council appointed five new prosecutors to the European Public Prosecutor's Office following a "partial renewal" of the EPPO College, the council announced. Terms for the eight current prosecutors expire July 28. Six-year terms will begin July 29 for new appointees Nikolaos Paschalis, Andrea Venegoni, Anne Pantazi Lamprou, Gedgaudas Norkunas and Ursula Schmudermayer. Prosecutors are charged with investigating and charging crimes against the bloc's financial interests, including fraud, corruption and cross-border value-added tax fraud above 10 million euros. Three additional prosecutors will be named at a later date, the council said.

The EU's steel safeguard measure will not be prematurely terminated, the European Commission announced. All tariff-rate quotas under the safeguard, which expires June 30, 2024, will be increased by 4% as of July 1, the commission said. The decision was made after an investigation on whether terminating the duties early was justified.

The EU added seven Iranian government officials, security officers and judges to its Iran sanctions list for committing "serious human rights violations." The designations target prosecutor Seyyed Mohammad Mousvian and deputy judge Ali Zare Nouri, both responsible for trials against protesters who were later executed, the European Council said June 26. Sanctions were also applied to Iranian officials Seyyed Nader Safavi Mirmahalleh and Seyyed Abbas Hosseini and police or military officials Seyyed Khalil Safavi, Mojtaba Fada and Rashid Kaboud Vandi.

The U.K. on June 26 extended until March 31 its General License under the Russian sanctions regime permitting the continuation of business operations with Evraz's North American subsidiaries.