The U.S. this week sanctioned six people connected to the terror group Hamas, including by helping it smuggle weapons into Gaza or for coordinating with Russia.
The Office of Foreign Assets Control sanctioned nine people in Mexico involved in drug trafficking and money laundering, including with major drug trafficking group Cartel Jalisco Nueva Generacion. OFAC said some of them played a “prominent role in the early stages” of the U.S. opioid crisis by smuggling drugs into America.
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The Office of Foreign Assets Control fined a U.S. citizen more than $1 million for evading U.S. sanctions against Iran by using foreign money services businesses to buy an Iranian hotel.
The U.S. this week sanctioned three entities and several people for their ties to violence in the West Bank or for undermining peace in the region, including an organization that aids Israelis previously designated by the U.S.
MetLife is “pleased” to have reached a settlement with the Office of Foreign Assets Control that resulted in a $178,421 penalty for alleged sanctions violations by its subsidiary, American Life Insurance Company (see 2411140052), a MetLife spokesperson emailed Nov. 14. The spokesperson added that the insurance company holds itself to “the highest professional and ethical standard.”
The U.S. this week designated 26 companies, people and vessels linked to the sanctioned Al-Qatirji Company, a Syrian conglomerate that OFAC said generates hundreds of millions of dollars for Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps-Qods Force and the Yemen-based Houthis by selling Iranian oil to Syria and China.
Companies have not encountered any major hurdles as they seek to comply with the Office of Foreign Assets Control’s new interim final rule extending sanctions-related record-keeping requirements from five years to 10 years, according to two trade lawyers interviewed.
A subsidiary of American insurance firm MetLife will pay $178,421 to settle allegations that it violated U.S. sanctions by maintaining insurance policies for entities controlled by the Iranian government.
The U.K. offered guidance this week about how companies should address a recently announced Russian decree that requires securities held at the country's National Settlement Depository to be transferred to local Russian registrars. The move is an attempt by Russia to evade Western sanctions on its National Settlement Depository, the U.K. said in new FAQ 124, warning British companies that the local Russian registrars may also be captured by sanctions.