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 the title or by clicking on the hyperlinked reference number.
The Treasury Department's Office of Foreign Assets Control announced two new Ukraine-/Russia-related general licenses. Ukraine General Licenses 13R and 15L authorize divestment of, and transferring assets from, the GAZ Group to non-U.S. persons and the winding down of operations with GAZ Group by May 25.
The Office of Foreign Assets Control fined Toll Holdings, a Melbourne, Australia-based international freight and logistics company, more than $6.13 million for nearly 3,000 violations of multiple U.S. sanctions programs. OFAC said Toll received illegal payments connected to sea, air and rail shipments through multiple highly sanctioned countries, including North Korea, Iran and Syria. The transactions included sanctioned Iranian airline Mahan Air (see 2111190006) and Iran-based Hafiz Darya Shipping Lines.
The Office of Foreign Assets Control on April 22 updated the entry for North Korean cyber-criminal group Lazarus Group. OFAC updated the Lazarus Group entry to include "three additional virtual currency wallet addresses" linked to the entity, an agency spokesperson said April 22. "Identification of these wallets will make clear to other VC actors that by transacting with them, they risk exposure to U.S. sanctions," the spokesperson said.
The Office of Foreign Assets Control last week fined Colorado-based Newmont Corp. and Florida-based Chisu International Corp. after the two mining companies bought Cuban-origin “explosives and explosive accessories” from a third-party vendor. The agency announced a $141,442 settlement with Newmont and a $45,908 settlement with Chisu for violating the Cuban Assets Control Regulations.
The Office of Foreign Assets Control is seeking comments on an information collection related to the agency’s Application for the Release of Blocked Funds. The application, which is available electronically on OFAC’s website, “provides a standardized method of application” for industry and eliminates the “need for applicants to write lengthy letters to OFAC,” the agency said. Comments are due June 21.
The Office of Foreign Assets Control on April 20 issued guidance for holders of credit cards issued by sanctioned Russian financial institutions. The agency said U.S. operators of credit card systems are blocked from processing transactions involving certain sanctioned foreign financial institutions unless exempt by OFAC. Foreign operators of credit card systems whose payment cards are issued by sanctioned banks also risk violating U.S. sanctions if they allow those cards to be used in the U.S., OFAC said.
The Office of Foreign Assets Control on April 20 sanctioned more than 40 people and entities -- including Russian commercial bank Transkapitalbank -- for operating a sanctions evasion network. The agency also issued two new general licenses authorizing certain transactions with the bank and sanctioned a range of companies for operating in Russia’s virtual currency mining industry.
The Office of Foreign Assets Control issued Russia-related General License 27, which allows certain transactions by nongovernmental organizations involving Russia. The license authorizes activities in support of humanitarian projects, democracy building initiatives, education, non-commercial development projects and environmental and natural resource protection in both Russia and Ukraine.
The Office of Foreign Assets Control updated the sanctions entry for Lazarus Group, a North Korean cybercrime group designated in 2019 (see 1909130039). The agency didn’t release additional information.