Australia's Sanctions Office this month issued new and updated "guidance notes" about various sanctions laws, including information about compliance obligations for Australian people and entities. The new documents cover sanctions involving advanced technologies, the financial sector, employment, the ocean shipping industry, Russia-related restrictions, and more.
The U.K. on June 13 removed one entry from its Russia sanctions regime. The Office of Financial Sanctions Implementation delisted Aleksey Leonidovich Fisun, a member of the Supervisory Board Sovcombank, from the Russia restrictions.
The Bureau of Industry and Security, which is seeking a major budget increase in FY 2026 (see 2505020030), would use the funding boost to add hundreds of employees to enhance its compliance and enforcement capabilities, agency head Jeffrey Kessler said June 12.
The Office of Foreign Assets Control this week fined California-based venture capital firm GVA Capital more than $215 million for allegedly violating U.S. sanctions against Russia and for failing to comply with an OFAC subpoena. The firm knowingly managed an investment for sanctioned Russian oligarch Suleiman Kerimov, OFAC said.
DOJ announced last week that it opened a civil forfeiture action in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia against more than $7.74 million allegedly laundered on behalf of the North Korean government. The funds were initially "restrained" as part of an indictment against North Korean banker Sim Hyon Sop, who was allegedly conspiring with North Korean information technology workers who illegally "amassed millions in cryptocurrency" as a means of evading sanctions on North Korea, DOJ said.
As lawmakers consider imposing new sanctions on Russia, they should ensure they don’t hinder the Trump administration’s ability to negotiate a deal to end the Russia-Ukraine war, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said June 11.
A Russian citizen was charged with using his cryptocurrency company Evita to violate U.S. sanctions by funneling over $500 million in overseas payments through U.S. banks and cryptocurrency exchanges, according to a 22-count indictment unsealed by DOJ on June 9. Iurii Gugnin, a resident of New York and a Russian citizen, was charged with wire and bank fraud, conspiracy to defraud the U.S. and violating the International Emergency Economic Powers Act, among other charges.
Senate Foreign Relations Committee ranking member Jeanne Shaheen, D-N.H., said June 10 that Congress should take up a bipartisan Russia sanctions bill to spur Moscow to reach a peace deal with Ukraine.
The EU this week proposed another round of sanctions against Russia, including lowering the global price cap on Russian oil from $60 to $45 per barrel. The bloc also wants to sanction more vessels transporting Russian oil, designate Chinese companies sending dual-use goods to Russia, and introduce more financial restrictions.
The Trump administration has no plans to ease existing sanctions on Russia while it seeks a deal to end the Russia-Ukraine war, a State Department nominee told a Senate panel June 10.