The Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control reached a settlement of about $870,000 with a New York-based shipbroking company that OFAC said violated weapons-related sanctions five times. The company, MID-SHIP Group LLC, violated the Weapons of Mass Destruction Proliferators Sanctions Regulations by negotiating contracts among ship owners and charterers worth about $470,000 between February and November 2011, OFAC said May 2. The ships used in the transfers were owned by the Islamic Republic of Iran Shipping Lines (IRISL), which was sanctioned by OFAC in 2008.
The Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control published a 12-page guide on sanctions compliance for U.S. and foreign businesses, detailing what OFAC defines as effective compliance programs and outlining several “root causes” of sanctions violations. The guide, published May 2, delves into the level of compliance that OFAC expects from companies and how best to avoid sanctions violations. The guide covers five categories: management commitment, risk assessment, internal controls, testing and auditing, and training.
Hong Kong Exchanges and Clearing issued guidance that includes information on the effects of sanctions on issuers listed on the Hong Kong stock exchange. A section on trade or economic sanctions details requirements for disclosure to investors and the ramifications of exposure to sanctioned companies and businesses.
The Department of the Treasury is “initiating a renewal of the public certificate securing the www.treasury.gov website,” which includes the Office of Foreign Assets Control’s “sanctions list downloads,” OFAC said in a May 1 technical notice. The certificate is being replaced May 16 at 9 p.m. EDT and will take about three to six hours for the "replacement certificate to be distributed worldwide,” the notice said. “If your application pins or otherwise trusts the serial number of the existing certificate as part your application functionality, you may need to update your configuration to trust the renewed certificate,” OFAC said. Questions should be directed to O_F_A_C@treasury.gov or the tech support hotline at 1-800-540-6322.
U.S. economic sanctions are on a path toward losing power and impact, potentially undercutting a variety of tools used in U.S. foreign policy, according to a study published April 29 by the Center for a New American Security. The study, “Economic Dominance, Financial Technology, and the Future of U.S. Economic Coercion,” examines the current state of U.S. economic sanctions and makes several predictions, portraying a muddy outlook for the future of U.S. sanctioning tools. “If policymakers want to be able to continue deploying coercive economic tools effectively … they must ... get ahead of trends that could, if left unchecked, weaken some of the most important tools of U.S. foreign policy,” the study said.
Reps. Eliot Engel, D-N.Y., and Michael McCaul, R-Texas, are working on legislation that would strengthen U.S.-imposed sanctions on Russia, they said during a House Foreign Affairs Committee meeting May 1. Engel said they are planning to introduce a bill that will “protect America’s interests, ramp up the targeted sanctions, enhance diplomacy and counter propaganda efforts to meet the Russian threat.” McCaul said he and Engel had breakfast with Secretary of State Mike Pompeo earlier that day and said “there’s no doubt” Pompeo “looks at Russia as a great threat” to the U.S. “I don't think this is a partisan issue,” McCaul said. “I hope we can pass legislation out of this committee.”
In the April 30 edition of the Official Journal of the European Union the following trade-related notices were posted:
The National Shooting Sports Foundation supports President Donald Trump's plans to withdraw from the Arms Trade Treaty (see 1904260063), the group said in a news release. "The treaty was intended to control the international trade in firearms under the guise of protecting human rights," the group said. "The National Shooting Sports Foundation strongly opposed the treaty as it would have exposed the firearms and ammunition industry to a confusing web of international regulations that would not have contributed to curbing illegal arms trafficking, protecting human rights or guaranteeing the rights of United States citizens." The international sales of arms are still "highly regulated by U.S. law and this action has no effect upon these stringent export controls," the group said.
President Donald Trump said the U.S. will place the “highest-level sanctions” and a “complete embargo” on Cuba if it does not stop “military and other operations” in Venezuela. The announcement, made April 30, came hours after Venezuelan opposition leader Juan Guaido called for a military uprising. U.S. National Security Adviser John Bolton said earlier that Cuban troops were aiding Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro, according to the Associated Press.
Export Compliance Daily is providing readers with some of the top stories for April 22-26 in case they were missed.