The Office of Foreign Assets Control released a guidance aimed to help the "virtual currency industry navigate and comply with OFAC sanctions," it said Oct. 15. The guide includes a set of frequently asked questions and case studies about virtual currencies and sanctions.
A recent sanctions enforcement case highlighted the various export compliance hurdles associated with sales through overseas distributors, which is becoming one of the “greatest areas of export compliance risk,” Williams Mullen said in an Oct. 13 alert. In the case, the Office of Foreign Assets Control said Texas-based NewTek sold products to third-country distributors despite having knowledge those products were intended for an Iran-based reseller (see 2109100007), which ultimately led to sanctions violations.
The U.S. and more than 30 other countries are meeting virtually this week to discuss how to better counter and disrupt ransomware attacks, including through sanctions, the White House said Oct. 13. The meetings come less than a month after the U.S. sanctioned SUEX, a large virtual currency exchange, for helping to facilitate transactions related to illegal ransomware attacks (see 2109210031). The White House said the Treasury Department “will continue to disrupt and hold accountable these ransomware actors and their money laundering networks,” and the meetings this week could be a forum for discussing multilateral actions.
The Office of Foreign Assets Control on Oct. 8 removed Iran-based Mammut Industrial Group, its subsidiary Mammut Diesel and their aliases from the Specially Designated Nationals List. The entities, which produced and supplied military-grade, dual-use goods for Iran’s missile programs, were sanctioned in September 2020.
The Office of Foreign Assets Control on Oct. 6 sanctioned four members of a Mexican drug cartel operating through the port of Manzanillo in Colima, Mexico. The sanctions target Cartel de Jalisco Nueva Generacion members Aldrin Miguel Jarquin Jarquin, Jose Jesus Jarquin Jarquin, Cesar Enrique Diaz De Leon Sauceda and Fernando Zagal Anton. OFAC said it worked with Mexico’s Financial Intelligence Unit to impose the designations. “Treasury is committed to working with partners in the U.S. and Mexican governments to expose, isolate, and disrupt CJNG members operating in Manzanillo and elsewhere,” OFAC Director Andrea Gacki said.
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The Office of Foreign Assets Control on Sept. 30 removed four entries from its Specially Designated Nationals List because they no longer warrant sanctions. The deletions are for Soho Panama, S.A.; Waked Internacional Panama, S.A.; ABIF Investment, S.A.; and Grupo La Riviera Panama, S.A.
The Office of Foreign Assets Control issued a new frequently asked question to clarify that two Venezuela-related general licenses haven’t expired. In FAQ 933, issued Oct. 1, OFAC said both General License 7C and 20B are authorized for an 18-month period, which “renews automatically for an additional 18 months on the first day of each month.” License 7C authorizes certain transactions with PDV Holding and CITGO Holding. License 20B authorizes transactions by certain international organizations with the Venezuelan government.
The Office of Foreign Assets Control on Sept. 30 issued a new frequently asked question to clarify certain sanctions exemptions related to Iran’s Imam Reza Holy Shrine. While the State Department has urged people not to travel to Iran, OFAC will exempt transactions related to “religious pilgrimages” by U.S. people to the shrine and the “acquisition of goods or services for personal use while traveling.” The agency also exempts certain donations to the shrine, including clothing, food, medicine and other humanitarian goods that are “intended to be used to alleviate human suffering.”
The U.S. and Qatar announced joint sanctions against a “major” Hezbollah financial network based in the Arabian Peninsula, which includes seven people and one entity, the Treasury Department said Sept. 29. Treasury designated Ali Reda Hassan al-Banai, Ali Reda al-Qassabi Lari, Abd al-Muayyid al-Banai, Abd al-Rahman Abd al-Nabi Shams, Yahya Muhammad al-Abd-al-Muhsin, Majdi Fa’iz al-Ustadz and Sulaiman al-Banai as Specially Designated Global Terrorists for supporting Hezbollah and terrorism. The agency also sanctioned Qatar-based Aldar Properties, which is controlled by Sulaiman al-Banai.