OFAC

The U.S. this week announced a spate of new Russia-related sanctions and export controls, targeting people and companies supplying Russia’s military, aiding its defense industrial complex or operating in various Russian financial, metals, government and procurement sectors. The measures include additions to the Commerce Department’s Entity List and more than 200 combined sanctions by the Treasury and State departments targeting businesses in China, the United Arab Emirates and elsewhere for sending export-controlled components to Russia.

The U.S., the U.K. and Canada issued new sanctions this week against Myanmar, targeting various entities and officials with ties to the country’s military regime and its purchase of weapons.

The U.S. this week sanctioned 11 people, eight entities and one vessel with ties to Iran’s ballistic missile and drone programs. The Treasury, Commerce and State departments, along with DOJ, also published a new advisory to alert global companies about Iran’s ballistic missile procurement activities.

The U.S. has little room to expand sanctions against Hamas, but it could look to track down and designate additional front companies the terror group uses to fund its activities, said Jason Prince, former chief counsel at the Office of Foreign Assets Control. Although OFAC has general licenses in place to authorize a broad range of humanitarian-related transactions involving Palestine, Hamas’ designation as a foreign terrorist organization could make some financial institutions less willing to approve those aid-related transactions, Prince said.

The U.S. this week sanctioned a China-based network of companies and people involved in manufacturing and distributing “ton quantities” of fentanyl, methamphetamine and MDMA precursors. The designations also target two entities and one person based in Canada.

Licensing work at sanctions and export control agencies likely will grind to a near halt in the event of a federal government shutdown Oct. 1, though enforcement activities at the Bureau of Industry and Security, Directorate of Defense Trade Controls and Office of Foreign Assets Control will continue -- if previous shutdowns are any guide.

The U.S. this week announced new Russia-related sanctions, designating more than 150 Russian business people, government officials, financial institutions, technology suppliers and foreign companies for supplying Russia with controlled goods or aiding the government. The sanctions include nearly 100 new designations imposed by the Treasury Department and more than 70 designations by the State Department and are designed to undermine Russia’s military supply chains, Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen said.

American building materials supplier Construction Specialties Inc. (CS) reached a $660,594 settlement with the Office of Foreign Assets Control this week for allegedly violating sanctions against Iran. OFAC said the company’s United Arab Emirates subsidiary, Construction Specialties Middle East (CSME), illegally reexported more than $1 million worth of construction materials to Iran and falsified trade documents to hide their destination.

The U.S., the U.K. and Canada this week sanctioned the former governor of Lebanon’s central bank, Riad Salameh, and others involved in an international corruption scheme. The Treasury Department said Salameh “abused his position of power,” to “enrich himself and his associates” by funneling hundreds of millions of dollars through shell companies to invest in European real estate.

The U.S. this week announced a new set of sanctions against Belarus, targeting eight people, five entities and one aircraft with ties to President Alexander Lukashenko's regime. The designations target people and entities that have helped the government evade sanctions or are involved in the government’s “continued civil society repression” or its “complicity” in Russia’s war against Ukraine. The Office of Foreign Assets Control issued two new general licenses to authorize certain transactions with two of the newly sanctioned entities.