The Office of Foreign Assets Control this week finalized a rule to extend the agency’s sanctions-related recordkeeping requirements from five years to 10 years, aligning those rules with a similar expansion of the statute of limitations for civil and criminal violations of U.S. sanctions (see 2407220022 and 2404290071). The changes, outlined in an interim final rule published in September (see 2409110017), take effect March 21.
The Office of Foreign Assets Control this week sanctioned Jumilca Sandivel Hernandez Perez, a “key leader” of a Guatemala-based criminal group that it said has smuggled thousands of migrants from Guatemala through Mexico and into the U.S. OFAC said Hernandez Perez leads the “Lopez Human Smuggling Organization,” which was previously sanctioned in July (see 2407250042).
The Treasury Department this week issued a new alert about the risks faced by U.S. and foreign financial institutions from sanctioned international cartels. The alert highlights the Trump administration’s increased enforcement focus on cartels, including its decision earlier this year to label several Latin America-based criminal groups as foreign terrorist organizations and specially designated global terrorists (see 2502190011 and 2502200019).
CBP has updated a license code in the Automated Export System for shipments involving export licenses by partner government agencies that aren’t incorporated in AES, it said in a March 13 CSMS message. Exporters should use License Code OPA (Other Partnership Agency) to give CBP a “heads-up that some paper documentation is required by another Federal agency not accommodated in AES,” according to the agency, such as the Drug Enforcement Agency or the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives. Licenses from the Bureau of Industry and Security, the Office of Foreign Assets Control, the State Department, the Energy Department and the Nuclear Regulatory Commission “cannot be used with license type” OPA, CBP said in the CSMS message.
The Office of Foreign Assets Control this week sanctioned the Foxtrot Network, a transnational criminal group based in Sweden, along with its leader Rawa Majid. OFAC said the group has trafficked illegal drugs and "carried out attacks on Israelis and Jews in Europe," including a January 2024 attack on the Israeli Embassy in Stockholm on behalf of the Iranian government. The agency said the designations build on President Donald Trump's February memo that ordered U.S. agencies to pursue a “maximum pressure” sanctions campaign against Iran (see 2502050020).
The Office of Foreign Assets Control last week updated several general licenses related to the Yemen-based Houthis, also known as Ansarallah, the group designated by the Trump administration as a foreign terrorist organization (see 2503040008).
The Bureau of Industry and Security released a "preliminary" agenda for its update conference scheduled for next week. The agenda includes two plenary sessions, a panel on export enforcement, and breakout sessions covering various topics, including semiconductor export controls, "emerging technology and foreign technology analysis," end-use/end-user controls, AUKUS, export enforcement best practices, the Office of Information and Communications Technology and Services, a regulatory review, space controls, and the Defense Production Act. The agenda also includes a list of speakers, which includes senior officials from BIS, the Office of Foreign Assets Control, the State Department and the Pentagon as well as government officials from Japan, South Korea and the EU. BIS said the agenda is subject to change.
The House Financial Services Committee unanimously approved several bills March 5 dealing with foreign investment and sanctions.
The Office of Foreign Assets Control on March 6 again extended a general license that continues to delay an exemption that would authorize certain transactions related to Petroleos de Venezuela, the country’s state-owned energy company. General License 5R, which replaced GL 5Q, now authorizes certain transactions with PdVSA involving an 8.5% bond on or after July 3. The previous license was set to allow those transactions to occur on or after March 7.
The Office of Foreign Assets Control this week sanctioned senior members and operatives of the Yemen-based Houthis, the group designated by the Trump administration as a foreign terrorist organization (see 2503040008). OFAC said the officials smuggled military items and weapon systems into Houthi-controlled areas of Yemen, negotiated Houthi weapons procurements from Russia, or have recruited Yemeni civilians to fight for Russia in Ukraine.