The Treasury Department’s Financial Crimes Enforcement Network is seeking comments on an information collection relating to anti-money laundering due diligence programs for banks, FinCEN said in a notice released Sept. 28. The collection relates to regulations for banks to “detect and report” money laundering involving correspondent accounts created by foreign financial institutions. The agency is proposing to renew the information collection without change. Comments are due Nov. 30. According to the notice, “Although no changes are proposed to the information collection itself, this request for comments covers a future expansion of the scope of the annual hourly burden and cost estimate associated with these regulations.”
The State Department updated its Cuba Restricted List to add one subentity and its alias, the agency said in a notice released Sept. 28. The list now includes American International Services (alias AIS Remesas), a subentity of Corporacion CIMEX S.A. The change takes effect Sept. 29. Entities on the Cuba Restricted List are generally subject to export restrictions by the Commerce Department.
The State Department approved potential military sales to the United Kingdom and the Netherlands worth more than $640 million combined, the Defense Security Cooperation Agency said Sept. 24. Under the proposed sales, the U.K. would get “C-17 aircraft Contractor Logistics Support” and related equipment worth about $400 million. The prime contractor is Boeing. The sale to the Netherlands includes 34 “Patriot Advanced Capability‑3 (PAC-3) Missile Segment Enhancement (MSE) missiles” and related equipment for about $240 million. Lockheed Martin is the prime contractor.
The State Department on Sept. 25 released its Cuba Prohibited Accommodations List, which identifies entities subject to restrictions on lodging-related transactions under the Cuban Assets Control Regulations (see 2009230029). The list, which includes more than 400 properties, takes effect Sept. 28.
Intel was granted U.S. export licenses to supply certain products to Huawei, an Intel spokesperson said in a Sept. 23 email. Intel received the licenses despite increased U.S. restrictions against the Chinese technology company, including the Bureau of Industry and Security's August revisions to the foreign direct product rule that were intended to block Huawei’s ability to access U.S. technology (see 2008170029). The Intel spokesperson declined to provide more details on the licenses. A BIS spokesperson said the agency does not comment on licensing issues.
The Commerce Department delayed its ban on TikTok and a federal judge temporarily blocked the agency from imposing prohibitions on WeChat, complicating prohibitions that Commerce announced last week in response to President Donald Trump's executive order (see 2009180026). Commerce on Sept. 19 said it will “delay the prohibition of identified transactions” -- which were scheduled to take effect Sept. 20 -- until Sept. 27. The agency made the decision “in light of recent positive developments” surrounding the sale of TikTok.
The Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs began a review of a final rule from the Bureau of Industry and Security related to its “national security license application review policy” for China, Russia and Venezuela. OIRA received the rule Sept. 17.
The Federal Emergency Management Agency extended the comment period on an information collection related to letters of attestation for exports of controlled medical exports, FEMA said in a notice released Sept. 17. The agency previously requested comments on the information collection, but said it received none (see 2007160025). FEMA plans to submit the information collection to the Office of Management and Budget for review and clearance. Comments are due Oct. 21.
Registration and licensing applications for the State Department’s Defense Export Control and Compliance System will be unavailable 6 a.m. to 8 a.m. EDT Sept. 22, a Sept. 18 notice said. The system will be down for scheduled maintenance, the State Department said, and users should save work in progress before the downtime begins.
The U.S. needs to increase funding to support “collaborative, pre-competitive R&D” in the semiconductor industry and offer “incentives” for boosting domestic production, the Information Technology and Innovation Foundation reported Sept. 17. It should invite participation of semiconductor enterprises “headquartered in like-minded nations,” ITIF said. The increasing cost, complexity and scale required to innovate and manufacture semiconductors “means that no single nation or enterprise can go it alone,” it said. “In the face of challenges from China, allied cooperation in semiconductors is critical.” China views the semiconductor sector as the linchpin of its digital development and “broadest-scale economic growth plans,” ITIF said. It has shown it’s willing to use “every tool at its disposal in its efforts to develop a world-class semiconductor industry,” it said.