ExxonMobil is requesting that a court vacate a $2 million penalty imposed by the Office of Foreign Assets Control for doing business with Rosneft, a Russian oil company, according to a brief filed Aug. 26 with the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Texas.
U.S. and foreign companies have “struggled” to interpret the scope of the U.S.’s most recent executive order and subsequent general licenses for Venezuela, leading some to submit requests for more guidance, according to an Aug. 22 post on the Winston & Strawn website.
Export Compliance Daily is providing readers with some of the top stories for Aug. 19-23 in case they were missed.
A Singapore-based trading firm was charged with shipping luxury goods to North Korea in violation of United Nations sanctions, according to an Aug. 21 post on the EU Sanctions blog. The company, SinSMS Pte. Ltd, was accused of shipping more than $650,000 worth (in Singapore dollars) of wine and spirits in 2016 and 2017 to North Korea through Dalian, China, the post said. The company faces a S$1 million fine. The U.S. Office of Foreign Assets Control in 2018 sanctioned SinSMS Pte. and its parent company, Dalian, China-based Sun Moon Star International Logistics Trading Co., for United Nations Security Council violations.
The Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control announced sanctions on three Chinese citizens and two Chinese entities for drug trafficking, Treasury said in an Aug. 21 press release. OFAC designated Fujing Zheng and his company, Shanghai-based Zheng Drug Trafficking Organization (Zheng DTO), under the Foreign Narcotics Kingpin Designation Act. OFAC also sanctioned Xiaobing Yan for being a drug trafficker, Guanghua Zheng for supporting Zheng DTO and Shanghai-based Qinsheng Pharmaceutical Co. Ltd., for being owned by Zheng.
The Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control sanctioned a Dominican Republic-based drug trafficking organization, its owner, supporters and several businesses run by the organization’s owner, Treasury said in an Aug. 20 press release. The sanctions include designations under the Foreign Narcotics Kingpin Designation Act against the Peralta Drug Trafficking Organization, Dominican national Cesar Emilio Peralta, and eight more Dominican nationals for supporting the organization and nightclubs owned by Peralta.
The Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control released its Biennial Report on Licensing Activities detailing license applications the agency processed for authorization to export to Iran and Sudan. The Aug. 19 report, which covers OFAC actions from October 2014 to September 2016, is mandated by the Trade Sanctions Reform and Export Enhancement Act of 2000 and covers OFAC applications that request permission to export “agricultural commodities, medicine and medical devices” to Iran and Sudan. The report includes the number of applications OFAC received, issued and denied. OFAC requested public comments on the TSRA’s licensing procedures in 2018 and said it received one comment that pointed to the “difficulties in using the financial mechanisms in place for making payments related to transactions” under the TSRA.
Export Compliance Daily is providing readers with some of the top stories for Aug. 12-16 in case they were missed.
A trade credit insurer will settle for about $345,000 after it violated the Foreign Narcotics Kingpin Sanctions Regulations, the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control said in an Aug. 16 enforcement notice. The company, Maryland-based Atradius Trade Credit Insurance, allegedly completed transactions with sanctioned entities.
The Treasury's Office of Foreign Assets Control is holding its 2019 Fall Symposium on Nov. 12 in Washington, D.C., OFAC said in an Aug. 14 notice. The symposium will feature a “comprehensive review” of U.S. sanctions and OFAC staff will be available to answer questions, the agency said. Registration is open, but the agency has not yet released an agenda. According to the webpage for the event, the agenda will be made available at the event.