The Office of Foreign Assets Control reached a settlement with American Express National Bank for $430,500 over apparent violations of the Foreign Narcotics Kingpin Sanctions Regulations, according to a July 15 OFAC notice. Over the course of two months, OFAC said, Amex processed transactions for a card holder who was designated in connection with illegal drug distribution and money laundering.
The Office of Foreign Assets Control has issued one new and three updated general licenses related to Russia alongside an update to OFAC's Frequently Asked Questions and a Food Security Fact Sheet, according to a July 14 notice.
The Office of Foreign Assets Control this week released the texts of two previously issued Ukraine/Russia-related General Licenses. The licenses are GLs 2 and 10, which expired in 2014 and 2016, respectively. The licenses authorized certain wind-down transactions or divestments involving sanctioned Russian entities.
TradeStation Group, the U.S.-based parent company of an online securities and brokerage firm, said it may have violated U.S. sanctions. The company on June 29 submitted a voluntary self-disclosure to the Office of Foreign Assets Control after discovering its platform may have been accessed from a sanctioned country or by a sanctioned entity or person, TradeStation said in a July 1 SEC filing. The disclosure included information on a “nominal percentage of its customers’ compliance with OFAC’s comprehensive territorial-based sanctions,” the company said.
The Office of Foreign Assets Control has designated Obed Christian Sepulveda Portillo for the trafficking of high-caliber firearms from the U.S. to Cartel de Jalisco Nueva Generacion (CJNG), one of Mexico’s most powerful drug organizations, according to a July 11 news release.
The Office of Foreign Assets Control this week revised a Belarus-related entry on its Specially Designated Nationals List. The change updates identifying information for Belarusian Oil Trade House, which was sanctioned in 2008.
The Office of Foreign Assets Control this week renewed a Venezuela-related license that authorizes certain transactions related to exports or reexports of liquefied petroleum gas to Venezuela (see 2107120054). General License No. 40A, which replaces General License No 40, is valid through 12:01 a.m. EDT July 12, 2023. The license was scheduled to expire July 8.
Rachel Fiorill, former enforcement section chief at the Treasury Department's Office of Foreign Assets Control, joined Morrison Foerster as of counsel in the Washington, D.C., office, the firm announced. Fiorill most recently worked at Paul Weiss, where she advised clients on "economic sanctions, Bank Secrecy Act/Anti-Money Laundering," anti-corruption and export control proceedings. While at OFAC, Fiorill led investigations of hundreds of enforcement actions, serving as coordinator for the Enforcement Division's Ukraine, Russia and Syria-related investigations, Morrison Foerster said.
The Office of Foreign Assets Control sanctioned an international network that used a network of front companies to cover the delivery and sale of hundreds of millions of dollars’ worth of Iranian oil and petrochemical products from Iranian companies to East Asia, according to a July 6 press release. Two individuals, 13 entities, and two vessels were added to the Specially Designated Nationals list, according to OFAC's July 6 notice. The action follows an earlier action by OFAC on June 16, which designated members of an international sanctions-evasion network supporting Iranian petrochemical sales (see 2206160030). “While the U.S. is committed to achieving an agreement with Iran that seeks a mutual return to compliance with the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action, we will continue to use all our authorities to enforce sanctions on the sale of Iranian petroleum and petrochemicals,” Undersecretary of the Treasury for Terrorism and Financial Intelligence Brian Nelson said.
The Office of Foreign Assets Control last week issued a reminder to industry to file annual reports on blocked property by Sept. 30. The notice applies to blocked property held as of June 30. OFAC provided filing forms and guidance on filing the reports.