The U.S. Supreme Court on Oct. 4 agreed to hear a lawsuit brought by the Mexican government against a group of gun manufacturers and one gun distributor for their role in aiding the trafficking of guns into Mexico. The lawsuit accuses the gun makers of marketing, distributing, selling and designing guns in ways that knowingly arm Mexican drug cartels through corrupt gun dealers and illegal sales practices (Smith & Wesson Brands v. Estados Unidos Mexicanos, Sup. Ct. # 23-1141).
Senate Banking Committee ranking member Tim Scott, R-S.C., and Sen. Mike Rounds, R-S.D., asked the Federal Reserve this week to explain how it reportedly failed to prevent money from flowing to U.S.-sanctioned entities, including Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps.
The U.S., U.K. and Australia this week sanctioned a group of people and entities that they said have ties to Russian cybercriminal group Evil Corp., which the Office of Foreign Assets Control designated in 2019 for its international hacking campaigns.
LONDON -- Officials at a defense industry conference last week were complimentary of defense export control reforms recently announced by the U.S., Australia and the U.K., but they also said the three governments can do more to incentivize companies to make use of the reforms.
The Office of Foreign Assets Control removed Swiss national Inga Rettich from its Specially Designated Nationals List, who it originally sanctioned in 2022 for ties to Russian businessman and investor Murat Magomedovich Aliev. OFAC also deleted the vessel Flying Fox, a Cayman Islands-flagged yacht that it sanctioned in 2022 for being owned by Imperial Yachts SARL, a yacht brokerage for Russian elites. The agency didn’t release more information.
The Bureau of Industry and Security reached a $151,875 settlement with Quantum Corp., a California-based data storage and management company, after it allegedly committed 45 violations of the antiboycott provisions of the Export Administration Regulations.
The Bureau of Industry and Security fined First Call International, a Texas-based provider of defense and aerospace items, after the company modified a document to make it appear like it was complying with U.S. export control regulations. BIS also said the business illegally exported military aircraft parts to Malaysia and South Korea.
The Bureau of Industry and Security rejected an appeal from Alexey Sumchenko for a temporary denial order issued against him in June after an administrative law judge said BIS “successfully demonstrated” that the denial order was needed to prevent an “imminent” violation of U.S. export controls.
Sen. Marco Rubio, R-Fla., introduced a bill this week that could lead to sanctions being imposed on Chinese entities and officials involved in producing precursor chemicals for fentanyl.
The State Department will again renew relaxed export restrictions for certain defense goods and services involving Cyprus, it said in a final rule released this week and effective Oct. 1. The agency has issued the renewal each year since 2020 (see 2309130028), suspending its policy of denial for exports, reexports, and transfers of defense articles on the U.S. Munitions List to Cyprus. The move also suspends the policy of denial for retransfers and temporary imports destined for or originating in Cyprus and brokering activities involving Cyprus. The latest renewal expires Sept. 30, 2025.