The U.K.'s Office of Financial Sanctions Implementation fined London-based financial institution Clear Junction more than $49,000 for violating the country's sanctions on those violating the territorial sovereignty of Ukraine. From March to June 2018, Clear Junction conducted 15 transactions with accounts held at the EU-designated Russian National Commercial Bank. Clear Junction then made funds available to an individual designated under the Ukraine sanctions regime, OFSI said. Clear Junction made a voluntary disclosure, dropping the penalty by 26.7%. The financial services firm detailed eight of the transactions, but further investigation revealed nondisclosed payments from Clear Junction. TransferGo initiated the transactions, giving a Russian Bank Identification Code to Clear Junction to enable the transactions, OFSI said. TransferGo was fined in August for its role in the scheme.

The European Union added 40 individuals and entities to its sanctions regimes on ISIL and al-Qaida, Syria, Myanmar and entities involved in the Russian State Duma elections in Crimea. Under the ISIL sanctions list, the European Council added two individuals and two groups. The restrictive measures now apply to al-Qaida in the Indian subcontinent and its leader Osama Mahmood, along with Aziz Azam, spokesperson of ISIL-K -- the Islamic State's Khorasan Province -- and Da'esh Hind Province, an ISIL-affiliated group in India. The council said the sanctioned parties are planning attacks in Afghanistan and pose a serious threat to "regional and international stability."

Japan, serving as the chair of the U.K.'s Accession Working Group for the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership, announced that the U.K. has moved into the final phase of accession to the key trade pact, the U.K.'s Department for International Trade said. This "market access" phase involves the U.K. agreeing to new trading relationships with the CPTPP's 11 members, which would make it the first European country to join the trade pact.

The U.K.'s Office of Financial Sanctions Implementation is amending six entries under its Syria sanctions regime, it said in a Feb. 17 notice. The entries for Bayan Bitar and Syrian Petroleum were altered with both still subject to an asset freeze. OFSI removed duplicate aliases from the listings of Samir Hassan, Mohammad Ali Jafari and Mohamed Ourjman. The U.K. also amended the entry for Adel Anwar Al-Olabi on the previous version of the consolidated list, still subjecting the individual to an asset freeze.

A group of countries aligned with the European Union's decision to add five individuals to its Mali sanctions regime, the European Council said in a Feb. 18 notice. North Macedonia, Montenegro, Serbia, Albania, Iceland, Liechtenstein, Norway and Ukraine also added the five individuals to their sanctions lists.

Ukraine imposed sanctions on Moscow-based broadcasting service Vitrina TV, the National Security and Defence Council of Ukraine said. The council said that the company "provides services for broadcasting Russian TV channels blocked in Ukraine." The restrictive measures will be imposed for a period of five years barring an extension. Further, sanctions were implemented against the Kyiv-based Nasha Praga LLC (Maxi-TV channel), Nash 24 LLC, Nash 365 LLC (Nash TV channel) and these companies' parent firm, Cypriot Demosena Investments. All the newly listed entities will be subject to an asset freeze and restriction of trade operations.

The U.K. and Australia are rolling out a series of modules intended to support the capability of partner governments to bolster supply chain resilience, the U.K.'s Department for International Trade said Feb. 17. Further, the U.K. and Australia said that they will share approaches to strengthen key supply chains in a bid to improve public sector approaches to building this resilience. These efforts are part of the U.K.'s and Australia's "joint supply chain resilience capability building initiative," which will start out with this initial project to identify the scope of the initiative.

The EU imposed a definitive antidumping duty on iron or steel fasteners from China, in a Feb. 17 regulation. The duties apply to imports of "certain fasteners of iron or steel, other than of stainless steel, i.e. wood screws (excluding coach screws), self-tapping screws, other screws and bolts with heads (whether or not with their nuts or washers, but excluding screws and bolts for fixing railway track construction material), and washers" and cover the period July 1, 2019, to June 30, 2020. The following rates apply: 22.1% for Jiangsu Yongyi Fastener Co., 46.1% for Ningbo Jinding Fastening Piece Co., 48.8% for Wenzhou Junhao Industry Co., 39.6% for other cooperating companies listed in the notice's annex, and 86.5% for all other companies. The investigation into the duties was touched off by a November 2020 complaint from European Industrial Fasteners Institute.

A group of countries aligned with the European Union's decision to extend its sanctions regime on Tunisia for another 12 months, until Jan. 31, 2023, the European Council said Feb. 16. North Macedonia, Montenegro, Serbia, Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Iceland, Liechtenstein, Norway, Ukraine, Moldova and Georgia also implemented the extension.

The United Kingdom's Office of Financial Sanctions Implementation amended entries under its Syria, Zimbabwe and Russia sanctions regimes. Amendments were made for Zimbabwe Defence Industries under the Zimbabwe list and for former Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovych under the Russia list. Under the Syria sanctions regime, among 25 entries altered and still subject to asset freezes were those for individuals including Ali Mamluk, former head of the Syrian National Security Bureau, and Hossein Taeb, head of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps Intelligence.