The Office of Foreign Assets Control officially retired its RSS feed Jan. 31, the agency said in a notice this week (see 2411220009). The agency continues to provide updates about recent sanctions by email, and users can sign up for those updates. Technical support questions should be sent to O_F_A_C@treasury.gov.
The Office of Foreign Assets Control this week sanctioned a network of people, companies and ships that it said are moving millions of barrels of Iranian crude oil to China on behalf of the Iranian military and a sanctioned front company, Sepehr Energy Jahan Nama Pars (see 2311290034).
Export Compliance Daily is providing readers with the top stories from last week in case you missed them. You can find any article by searching for the title or by clicking on the hyperlinked reference number.
Patrick Dierfield, a former senior sanctions compliance manager with cryptocurrency exchange Okcoin, is joining the Office of Foreign Assets Control as a sanctions regulations adviser, he announced on LinkedIn. Dierfield joined OFAC this month.
The auction process for ships to pass through the Panama Canal when the water is low, and the fact that a Hong Kong company owns ports by the entrance and exit of the Panama Canal were the focuses of a Senate hearing on the canal -- but the way Iranian ships used Panama to evade sanctions also came up.
The Office of Foreign Assets Control on Jan. 24 officially removed sanctions from all people and entities designated under a sanctions authority that had targeted violent Israeli settlers and organizations in the West Bank (see 2501210023). OFAC “removed the West Bank-Related Sanctions program from its website and removed all persons designated under” the West Bank-related executive order 14115, signed by President Joe Biden last year (see 2402010053), from its Specially Designated Nationals and Blocked Persons List. “All property and interests in property blocked under E.O. 14115 are unblocked,” OFAC said.
Export Compliance Daily is providing readers with the top stories from last week in case you missed them. You can find any article by searching for the title or by clicking on the hyperlinked reference number.
The Office of Foreign Assets Control last week sanctioned Yin Kecheng, a Shanghai-based hacker, and Sichuan Juxinhe Network Technology Co., LTD., a China-based cybersecurity company, for their roles in cyber attacks against the U.S. OFAC said Yin was involved in the recent reported hacking of the Treasury Department by the Chinese government (see 2501020009) and Juxinhe Network has ties to the Salt Typhoon cyber group, which recently hacked the networks of multiple major U.S. telecommunications and internet service providers.
California-based machine tool manufacturer Haas Automation will pay more than $2.5 million to the U.S. government after being accused of illegally shipping parts and other items to sanctioned and Entity Listed companies in China and Russia.
The Office of Foreign Assets Control this week sanctioned two people and four entities for helping the North Korean government earn revenue overseas, including through information technology workers stationed around the world.