The Office of Foreign Assets Control on April 2 removed sanctions from VTB Bank Europe, the European subsidiary of Russian state-owned VTB Bank.
Beijing is looking to grow Renminbi-based financial networks to create an alternative to the dollar-dominated global financial system, which could help the country shield itself from some Western sanctions if it invades Taiwan, researchers and policy experts said this week. Although China isn’t yet ready to rely on those networks, that could change within several years, experts said.
The Office of Foreign Assets Control this week delisted a Netherlands-based entity that it had sanctioned in 2022 for being owned by Dutch national Alex Adrianus Martinus Peijnenburg. OFAC said Peijnenburg ran an illegal dark web drug trafficking network. The announcement removed the entity Bellizo from the Specially Designated Nationals List.
The Office of Foreign Assets Control this week sanctioned six people and two entities based in Russia, China and the United Arab Emirates for helping to generate revenue or process financial transactions for North Korea.
The U.S. this week sanctioned 11 people and entities supporting the Bashar al-Assad-led government in Syria, including companies that ship illegal drugs. OFAC said the designations target traffickers of Captagon -- the brand name of a “highly addictive amphetamine-type stimulant” trafficked in the Middle East and Europe -- along with entities helping Syria evade sanctions.
The U.S. this week sanctioned six entities, one person and two tankers that have helped ship goods and facilitate financial transactions on behalf of the Iranian military, the Iran-backed Houthis and Hezbollah. The Office of Foreign Assets Control said they are tied to sanctioned Houthi financial facilitator Sa’id al-Jamal (see 2403060017).
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The U.S. and the U.K. this week sanctioned a Chinese company and two people for carrying out cyberattacks against American and British entities and critical infrastructure sectors.
The Office of Foreign Assets Control sanctioned 13 entities and two people with ties to Russia’s financial services and technology industries for offering services to evade U.S. sanctions. OFAC said many of the companies operate blockchain-based services that allow virtual currency payments in Russia’s financial sector, “thus enabling potential sanctions evasion.”
The Office of Foreign Assets Control last week sanctioned Wendy Carolina Morales Urbina, Nicaragua’s attorney general, for her ties to corruption as part of President Daniel Ortega’s government. OFAC said she has helped the government “steal” real property from independent media outlets, international organizations and political prisoners, under law “explicitly to suppress freedom of association.” Morales Urbina does this by giving existing property deeds to new owners declaring properties as “now being made for public use,” the agency said.