Congress, federal agencies and state bar associations should work together on new regulations to ensure U.S. lawyers aren't enabling Russia-related sanctions evasion, Stanford Law School lecturer Erik Jensen and a host of law students recommended in a recent report.
David Lim, a former prosecutor with DOJ’s Counterintelligence and Export Control Section, has joined White & Case as partner, the firm announced May 29. Lim, who left DOJ earlier this month, was the co-director of DOJ’s Task Force KleptoCapture, where he supervised investigations and prosecutions of Russia-related sanctions and export control violations. The firm said he will advise clients on export control and sanctions enforcement risks and help handle government and internal investigations.
The U.K. said it "reissued" a general license under its Russia sanctions regime allowing U.K. parties to use the retail banking services of a sanctioned credit or financial institution "provided that the payments made or received are intended for the personal use of" the individual. Payments may not exceed 50,000 pounds (about $63,500), and registered financial institutions can process those payments. Payments must be reported to the U.K. within 14 days with information on the amount processed, the payment route used and the date on which the funds were processed. The license expires May 27, 2026.
Japan sanctioned one Russian national, nine Russian entities and two Cypriot entities last week for their roles in aiding Russia's procurement of arms from North Korea, Japan's Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry announced, according to an unofficial translation.
Treasury Deputy Secretary Wally Adeyemo met with researchers, non-governmental organizations and others in Kyiv, Ukraine, this week to discuss Russia sanctions, trade restrictions and other issues. Treasury said they talked about “unlocking the value of immobilized Russia sovereign assets, Russia’s transition to a wartime economy, and restricting Russia’s revenue and disrupting Russian procurement of priority goods.”
The U.S. and other countries imposing sanctions and export controls on Russia need a more “aggressive” plan to cripple Moscow’s war effort, a group of researchers and economists said, including through tighter financial restrictions, new bans on Russian commodities and broader export controls. They also said American lawyers should have to follow strict due diligence and reporting rules when taking on clients with ties to Russia, and said the price cap on Russian oil should be lowered.
The U.S. plans to continue fine-tuning its export controls and sanctions against Russia in response to Moscow's attempts to get around them, a Biden administration official said this week.
The Council of the European Union on May 27 sanctioned two people and one entity involved in Russian war propaganda, including “propaganda actions targeted at civil society in the EU and its neighbouring countries.” The designations target media outlet Voice of Europe; Artem Marchevskyi, a "concealed head” of Voice of Europe; and Viktor Medvedchuk, a political figure who has “promoted policies and actions intended to erode [the] credibility and legitimacy” of Ukraine.
The Council of the European Union established a new sanctions framework to target entities and people responsible for undermining democracy and committing "serious human rights violations" in Russia, it said May 27. Along with the announcement, the EU sanctioned the Federal Penitentiary Service of the Russian Federation, which manages Russia's prison system, along with 19 judges, prosecutors and other judiciary members.
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