The U.K.’s lead sanctions agency plans to add more employees and resources over the next year, saying that should lead to speedier decisions on license applications and more sanctions-related investigations. It also said it will soon issue penalties for Russia-related violations and wants to expand its mandatory sanctions reporting requirements.
An executive order signed by President Joe Biden last week gives the U.S. broader authority to sanction financial institutions involved in shipments to Russia, marking a “significant step forward” in holding those foreign banks accountable for helping Moscow buy a range of critical items for its military, senior administration officials said.
The Bureau of Industry and Security this week suspended the export privileges of several people, including one person for illegally exporting goods to a university on the Entity List.
The Treasury Department this week published a final rule that will put in place safeguards around sensitive information submitted to the agency as part of its new beneficial ownership information (BOI) reporting requirements, which are designed to help the government prevent sanctioned parties and others from hiding money or property in the U.S. The rule adopts a range of changes from the proposed version released last year, including one that Treasury said will allow financial institutions to access information from a newly created BOI database for a broader set of reasons, including to help them conduct certain sanctions due diligence.
A New York insurance company reached a $466,000 settlement with the Office of Foreign Assets Control after the U.S. said it provided insurance policies for the blocked company of a sanctioned Russian-Ukrainian oligarch. OFAC said Privilege Underwriters Reciprocal Exchange, which provides insurance policies for luxury homes, cars and boats, continued collecting insurance payments from the company for more than two years after its owner was added to the agency’s Specially Designated Nationals List.
The oil shipping industry will soon be required to comply with new attestation and record-keeping rules as part of the global price cap on Russian oil, the Treasury Department said in an updated price cap guidance released Dec. 20. The agency also issued new sanctions against a Russian government-controlled ship manager and other traders who frequently transport Russian oil above the price cap.
Four Republican leaders of the House Financial Services Committee on Dec. 18 urged the Biden administration to impose “comprehensive energy sanctions” on Russia, saying the existing price cap on Russian oil sales has failed to choke off revenue that Moscow uses to fund its war in Ukraine.
The U.S. this week sanctioned 10 companies and four people with ties to Iran’s unmanned drone program, including Hossein Hatefi Ardakani, the Iranian-based leader of the network who helped illegally procure hundreds of thousands of dollars worth of U.S. and foreign-made components to Iran. Along with the new sanctions, DOJ charged Ardakani and his accomplice, China-based Gary Lam, for violating U.S. export controls.
The Office of Foreign Assets Control this week sanctioned Mexico-based Malas Manas, a transnational human smuggling and drug trafficking group, and Luis Eduardo Roman Flores and Joel Alexandro Salazar Ballesteros, two human smugglers. OFAC said the group smuggles people from Latin America across the U.S. Southwest border and into Arizona, and also smuggles weapons and narcotics into the U.S., including fentanyl, cocaine and methamphetamine. Roman Flores and Salazar Ballesteros both work on behalf of Malas Manas.
The U.S. and the U.K. on Dec. 14 announced a coordinated set of sanctions targeting senior Iranian military officials, including those supporting the “terrorist activities” of Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad.