Alexis Early, former partner at King & Spalding, has joined Jenner & Block as a partner in the Washington-based national security and crisis practice. Early's practice focuses on sanctions, trade and export controls, anti-money laundering, the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States and more, the firm said.
The European Council on Feb. 22 added six people and one entity to its Moldova sanctions regime for undermining the sovereignty of Moldova. The entity, Scutul Poporului, has "made repeated attempts" to undermine Moldovoa's government through riots and violent demonstrations, the council said. The other sanctions target the group's leader, media executives and an official "responsible for Russia's covert operations" in Moldova.
The U.K. added 50 entries to its Russia sanctions regime and two entries to its Belarus regime, the Office of Financial Sanctions Implementation announced in a pair of notices this week.
The State Department is offering rewards of up to $15 million for information leading to the arrest or conviction of people with ties to ransomware attacks carried out by LockBit and the group’s key leaders, the agency said this week. The announcement was made alongside new Treasury Department sanctions that designated two Russian nationals for their ties to the Russia-based ransomware group and its cyberattacks (see 2402200033). Since 2020, LockBit has carried out over 2,000 attacks, costing more than $144 million in ransom payments, the State Department said.
Five members of the House Select Committee on China are visiting Taiwan Feb. 22-24 to show support for the democratic country and discuss trade and investment, regional security and other issues with senior Taiwanese leaders and members of civil society, the committee said.
The U.N. Security Council and the U.K. this week sanctioned six military leaders involved in violence or human rights abuses in the Democratic Republic of Congo. The designations target Apollinaire Hakizimana, Ahmad Mahmood Hassan, Michel Rukunda, Mohamed Ali Nkalubo, William Amuri Yakutumba and Willy Ngoma. The U.S. announced similar sanctions last year when it designated six Rwandan or Congolese nationals contributing to conflict in the DRC (see 2308240019).
The State Department this week released its 2023 Global Magnitsky Human Rights Accountability Act Annual Report, detailing actions it took to impose Magnitsky sanctions last year, including 78 foreign person designations. The report lists each of the designations, including why they were designated.
U.S., Japanese and Korean officials met in Tokyo this week to discuss export controls, including ways their three countries can better share information and align their restrictions, the Bureau of Industry and Security said. The meeting was the “first in-person meeting of its kind” focused on aligning export controls, BIS said, and the three sides agreed to “further align on Russia controls, collaborate on outreach to countries in Southeast Asia, and cooperate on controls for critical and emerging technologies.”
Canadian exporters are increasingly seeing delays when applying for and receiving export permits, especially for shipments to Turkey, the United Arab Emirates and Saudi Arabia, said John Boscariol, a trade lawyer with McCarthy Tétrault. Boscariol, speaking during a virtual event this week hosted by the American Bar Association, said none of those countries are “prohibited destinations” under Canadian export regulations, but the government has still been taking “extra time” in evaluating permits.
The Bureau of Industry and Security this week eliminated some license requirements for exports of certain cameras, systems and related components, which the agency said will help U.S. exporters better compete with foreign firms and reduce licensing burdens. The final rule, released Feb. 22, also introduces a new control for certain high-speed cameras that BIS said pose proliferation risks.