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 U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit upheld the sanctions listing of Russian billionaire Oleg Deripaska, finding that the Treasury Department's Office of Foreign Assets Control provided proper evidence for the listing. The court also held that while Deripaska was found to no longer own two major energy companies, OFAC found him to still operate them, justifying his placement in the Russian sanctions regime.
The Bureau of Industry and Security added 73 new aircraft to its list of planes that have violated U.S. export controls by flying into Russia, including aircraft owned by Russian cargo carriers, the agency said in an emailed news release. The list includes new planes owned by AirBridgeCargo, which calls itself Russia's largest cargo airline, Atran, a Moscow-based cargo airline, and other commercial or private aircraft owned by Aeroflot, Alrosa, Azur Air, Nordstar, Nordwind, Pegasfly, Pobeda, Rossiya, Royal Flight, S7 Airlines and Utair. BIS also removed 12 aircraft that were allowed to return to owners in partner countries and updated tail numbers for other aircraft to “reflect their purported re-registration in Russia.” The agency said it will impose penalties and/or jail time or revoke export privileges for any company or person that violates the Export Administration Regulations by providing “any form of service” to the aircraft without a required BIS license.
The U.S. is preparing more sanctions and export controls against Russia, including more measures to target the country's defense industrial base and critical supply chains, Deputy Treasury Secretary Wally Adeyemo said March 29 during an event at Chatham House in London. The U.S., which will announce those steps alongside more than 30 allies, is also turning its enforcement focus to companies or countries that may be helping Russia evade the sanctions, Adeyemo said.
The U.K.'s Office of Financial Sanctions Implementation issued new general licenses for Russia and for Belarus authorizing until April 23 the closing out of any positions involving sanctioned banks. For Russia, these banks are Alfa Bank, GazPromBank, Rosselkhozbank, SMP Bank and the Ural Bank for Reconstruction and Development. For Belarus, the general license applies to Bank Dabrabyt Joint Stock Co. and any of its subsidiaries.
Two House oversight committee leaders are looking into Credit Suisse’s compliance with Russian sanctions after the investment firm reportedly asked investors to destroy documents about yachts and private jets owned by its clients. The Credit Suisse directive, reported by the Financial Times in February, “raises significant concerns that it may be concealing information about whether participants” are “evading sanctions” imposed by the U.S. and other countries against Russia, said Reps. Carolyn Maloney, D-N.Y., chairwoman of the Committee on Oversight and Reform, and Stephen Lynch, D-Mass., chairman of the Subcommittee on National Security.
The U.K. amended one entry and corrected two others under its Russia sanctions regime, the Office of Financial Sanctions Implementation said March 25. The entry for Sovcomflot was amended to change its address. Entries for Oleg Yurievich Tinkov, founder of Tinkoff Bank, and Eugene Markovich Shvidler, former nonexecutive director of Evraz, were corrected.
The past several weeks at U.S. sanctions agencies have ranked among the busiest times in recent memory, especially at the Office of Foreign Assets Control, where some employees are working nearly nonstop to implement and enforce new sanctions against Russia, former officials said in interviews. While some former officials said the extra work could shift minor projects to the side, lawyers are concerned it could also delay more pressing agency priorities, including licensing requests.
The U.K.'s Office of Financial Sanctions Implementation added one entity to its cyber sanctions regime, in a March 24 notice. The Central Scientific Research Institute of Chemistry and Mechanics, based in Moscow, is now subject to an asset freeze. OFSI said the institute was responsible for a cyberattack on a petrochemical company in August 2017.
Japan imposed a new wave of restrictions on Russia following its invasion of Ukraine. Japan is adding 24 individuals and 81 entities to its Russia sanctions regime, subjecting them to an asset freeze, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said March 25. It also banned the export of luxury goods to Russia, joining the EU and the U.K. in taking this action (see 2203150027). The sanctioned individuals include Andrey Patrushev, CEO of Gazprom; Sergei Ivanov, former chief of the presidential administration; and Igor Shuvalov, chairman of VEB.RF.