The recent U.S. decision to increase sanctions and export controls on Russia, although largely narrow, could have significant implications for exporters doing business in Russia, law firms said. U.S. companies should pay close attention to new restrictions on certain controlled services and the potential impacts of the restrictions on disclosure and reporting requirements, the firms said.
The Office of Foreign Assets Control sanctioned two people and two entities connected to the Myanmar military and its “violent repression” on pro-democracy protests, OFAC said March 22. The sanctions target Than Hlaing, a leader of Myanmar’s police force; military official Aung Soe; the 33rd Light Infantry Division of the Burmese Army; and the 77th Light Infantry Division of the Burmese Army.
The U.S., the European Union, the United Kingdom and Canada announced sanctions against China for human rights abuses in an internationally coordinated effort to condemn China’s treatment of its Uyghur population. The sanctions, announced March 22, target officials and an entity in the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region for leading the repression and detention of Muslim minorities.
Dual U.S.-Mexican citizen Jessica Johanna Oseguera Gonzalez pleaded guilty on March 12 to engaging in financial dealings with Mexican companies that had been identified as Specially Designated Narcotics Traffickers, the Department of Justice announced in a press release. Oseguera Gonzalez, the daughter of Cartel Jalisco Nueva Generacion head Nemesio Ruben Oseguera Cervantes, aka “El Mencho,” faces a maximum of up to 30 years in prison and is set to face sentencing on June 11. She pleaded guilty to violating the Foreign Narcotics Kingpin Designation Act by engaging in property transactions with six Mexican businesses that had been designated by the Treasury Department's Office of Foreign Assets Control.
Florida resident Victor Mones Coro was sentenced to 55 months in prison for violating U.S. sanctions on Venezuela by chartering private flights for top Venezuelan officials, the Department of Justice said March 17. Sentenced in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York, Mones Coro provided millions of dollars in charter flight services to former Venezuelan Vice President Tareck El Aissami, his frontman Samark Lopez Bello, Venezuelan Supreme Court President Maikel Moreno and President Nicolas Maduro's 2018 campaign for president. The chartered flights violate the Treasury Department's Office of Foreign Assets Control sanctions on the Venezuelan officials for their role in subverting democracy and proliferating authoritarianism. Mones Coro also will pay a $250,000 fine and serve two years of supervised release.
A Boston software company may have violated sanctions against U.S.-embargoed countries, it said in its March 16 Securities and Exchange Commission filing. SEMrush Holdings said it recently submitted an initial voluntary disclosure to the Office of Foreign Assets Control after identifying “customer accounts” that may involve transactions with people in Cuba, Iran, North Korea, Syria and the Crimea region of Ukraine. The company said it plans to provide OFAC with a final report on its disclosures and has not yet received a “determination” from the agency. SEMrush said it may face penalties. A company spokesperson didn't comment.
The Treasury's Office of Foreign Assets Control will allow for stock in Luokung Technology to be traded on U.S. exchanges until May 8, the company said in a March 11 news release. Luokung was previously designated as a Chinese military company and was scheduled for delisting on the NASDAQ on March 15. The company is fighting the designation in court, though a temporary restraining order request was dropped at Luokung's request due to the OFAC decision on March 11. Another Chinese company, Xiaomi, was recently granted a preliminary injunction over its designation (see 2103150035). Due to news of the court ruling in Xiaomi's favor, Luokung's stock shot up March 15, according to a press report on the NASDAQ website.
The Office of Foreign Assets Control is amending the maximum civil penalty amount for certain sanctions violations to reflect inflation adjustments for its civil monetary penalties, it said in a notice. The changes, effective March 17, increase the maximum penalties for violating the Trading With the Enemy Act, the International Emergency Economic Powers Act, the Antiterrorism and Effective Death Penalty Act of 1996, the Foreign Narcotics Kingpin Designation Act and the Clean Diamond Trade Act. OFAC also increased the maximum civil penalties for certain record-keeping violations and made several technical changes to “consolidate or shorten” certain citations in OFAC’s regulations.
The Office of Foreign Assets Control fined a Cleveland process controls and instrument manufacturer more than $215,000 for violating U.S. sanctions against Iran, OFAC said in a March 15 notice. The company, UniControl, Inc., exported goods to European companies despite knowing they would ultimately be sent to Iran, OFAC said. The agency said the company failed to “act on multiple apparent warning signs.”
The Office of Foreign Assets Control sanctioned the adult children of the commander-in-chief of the Myanmar military and their six companies, the agency said March 10. The designations target Aung Pyae Sone and Khin Thiri Thet Mon, who have “directly benefitted from their father’s position and malign influence.” OFAC also sanctioned the companies A&M Mahar Company Limited, Sky One Construction Company Limited, The Yangon Restaurant, The Yangon Gallery, Everfit Company Limited and Seventh Sense Company Limited.