The U.K.'s Office of Financial Sanctions Implementation last week launched new online forms for submitting license applications and reporting suspected violations or frozen assets. The agency said the new forms will help modernize and streamline OFSI's services and "make it easier for you to provide the information we need and to help us respond more quickly and efficiently."
The latest EU sanctions package against Russia, adopted last week, lowers the price cap on Russian oil, introduces more import and export restrictions and designates a range of vessels and companies helping Russia move energy products and evade sanctions.
Beijing last week said it’s seeing the U.S. approve exports of Nvidia H20 chips to China and urged the Trump administration to roll back other restrictions against the country.
Four Democratic members of the House Foreign Affairs Committee’s arms sales task force introduced a bill July 17 that would create a State Department program to determine whether U.S. defense exports are used to commit war crimes or harm civilians.
Rep. Mike Lawler, R-N.Y., introduced a bill July 16 that would update the conditions for lifting sanctions in the Caeser Syria Civilian Protection Act of 2019.
House Foreign Affairs Committee ranking member Rep. Gregory Meeks, D-N.Y., announced July 17 that he has filed a discharge petition to force House floor consideration of his bill to increase sanctions and export controls on Russia over its invasion of Ukraine.
The U.K. issued a new Russian sanctions general license allowing non-designated parties who have made investments through sanctioned brokers to "transfer their funds to a non-designated broker." The license applies when the only sanctioned party involved is the broker. Under the license, an "Asset Holding Institution" can take steps to transfer any funds held by a central securities depository that the asset-holding institution "reasonably considers" are "investment assets of that" non-sanctioned account holder and relate to investment made by the non-sanctioned account holder with the sanctioned broker before it became sanctioned.
Seth Bailey, the State Department’s director for Korean and Mongolian Affairs, briefed U.N. member states last week on the first report of the Multilateral Sanctions Monitoring Team, the group formed last year by the U.S. and 10 of its close allies to report on North Korea-related sanctions evasion (see 2502210005 and 2506050046). Bailey outlined “evidence” of North Korean arms and materiel transfers to Russia, Russian transfers of military technology to North Korea, and Russian training of North Korean troops in Russia, the State Department said. Bailey added that the monitoring team plans to continue publishing reports on North Korea’s “sanctions violations across a range of topics.”
The U.K. on July 18 added to its Russia and cyber sanctions regimes, listing three people and one entity under the Russia list and 18 individuals and one entity under the cyber list.
The Council of the European Union on July 18 adopted a fourth sanctions package against Sudan in response to the Sudanese civil war between the Sudanese Armed Forces and the Rapid Support Forces. The designations target Alkhaleej Bank, Red Rock Mining Company, SAF military commander Abu Aqla Mohamed Kaikal and RSF military field commander Hussein Barsham. The council said Alkhaleej Bank is "largely owned by companies linked to family members of RMS Commander Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo" and is central to financing RSF operations. The Red Rock Mining Company is involved in facilitating production of weapons and vehicles for the SAF, the council said.