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 U.K. on Aug. 5 amended a Russia sanctions license allowing designated parties to make certain payments to British billing authorities. The update added a permission to the list of permitted payments, allowing for the payment of fees "owed by or due from UK" sanctioned parties to the billing authorities for "Business Improvement District levies."
Trade groups, lawyers, investment firms, technology companies and foreign governments suggested a range of changes to the Treasury Department’s proposed outbound investment rules (see 2406210034), echoing calls last year for more clarity surrounding the due-diligence steps that will be required of deal-makers and warning that the U.S. risks chilling a broad range of U.S. ventures in China (see 2310050035). Several commenters also urged the Biden administration not to finalize the new prohibitions without similar buy-in from allies, with at least one group suggesting the U.S. is further from coordinating the rules among trading partners than it has let on.
The U.K. on Aug. 2 renewed a sanctions license allowing for certain sales, divestments or transfers of "financial instruments" held by the Russian Central Securities Depository. The license now runs through Oct. 12.
The Senate Appropriations Committee is concerned that Chinese Communist Party-backed companies may be “exploiting” the U.S. bankruptcy process to obtain American companies’ sensitive and proprietary information, the panel wrote in a new report accompanying its version of the FY 2025 Financial Services and General Government Appropriations Act.
The Office of Foreign Assets Control renewed two Russia-related general licenses last week that authorize transactions related to debt, equity or currency-conversion. Both licenses were scheduled to expire Aug. 13 but now expire 12:01 a.m. EDT Oct. 12.
The European Commission last week released a set of updated frequently asked questions on its Russia-related sanctions, offering guidance on how it treats "partner countries" in the context of its iron and steel restrictions and export controls.
Sen. Marco Rubio, R-Fla., introduced a bill this week aimed at countering the use of alternative financial systems by China, Russia and other "countries of concern" to evade U.S. sanctions.
The Biden administration continues to consider imposing additional sanctions to reduce China’s export of dual-use goods to Russia’s defense industrial base, a State Department official told a congressional panel July 30.
The Office of Foreign Assets Control this week sanctioned five people and seven entities across mainland China, Hong Kong and Iran for helping to provide key parts to Iran’s missile and drone programs. OFAC said they procure accelerometers, gyroscopes and other components that “serve as key inputs” for Iranian weapons programs, which that country uses to produce drones for Russia and its “proxies” in the Middle East.