Monday, December 12
France added one individual to its list of sanctions targets under the country's counter-terrorism sanctions program. (Here)
In view of the continued ballistic-missile-related activities carried out by the DPRK, the EU added eight individuals and four entities to the list of sanctions targets under the DPRK sanctions regime of the EU. (Here, press release)
The EU Council imposed blocking sanctions on four individuals and four entities involved in the development and delivery of Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs) to Russia. ,(Here, press release)
In response to the ongoing violent crackdown of the protests by the government in Iran, the EU Council imposed blocking sanctions on the Islamic Republic of Iran's state TV and 19 individuals. (Here)
The EU Council renewed its Mali sanctions regime for another year through 14 December 2023. (Here)
OFAC imposed blocking sanctions on four individuals and two entities under the United States' sanctions program against Zimbabwe. (Here, the Department of the Treasury's press release, the Department of State's press release)
Tuesday, December 13
OFSI imposed blocking sanctions on 15 entities and one individual under its Russia sanctions regime including three individuals and an entity in Iran who were involved in providing UAVs to Russia. (Here, press release)
The United States Department of Commerce issued a Temporary Denial Order immediately suspending the export privileges of three persons: Boris Livshits, Svetlana Skvortsova, and Aleksey Ippolitov; and two companies: Advanced Web Services, and Strandway, LLC, for 180 days for the unauthorized export of sensitive items subject to the Export Administration Regulations to Russia. (Here)
The United States unsealed an indictment, charging five Russian nationals and two U.S. nationals with conspiracy and other charges related to a global procurement and money laundering scheme on behalf of the Russian government in which the defendants allegedly conspired to obtain military-grade and dual-use technologies from U.S. companies for Russia’s defense sector, and to smuggle sniper rifle ammunition, in violation of new U.S. sanctions. (Here)
Wednesday, December 14
The UK's Export Control Joint Unit issued a notice to reflect amendments made to the Export Control Order 2008. (Here)
OFAC imposed blocking sanctions on a drug trafficker in the Dominican Republic under the United States counter-narcotics sanctions program. (Here, press release)
OFAC issued General License 21A to replace General License 21. The new General License is valid through 12:01 a.m. eastern standard time, January 14, 2023. (Here, relevant FAQ)
Thursday, December 15
The UK published the Report of the Independent Reviewer of Terrorism Legislation on the Operation of the Counter Terrorism (Sanctions) (EU Exit) Regulations 2019. (Here)
OFSI published General License INT/2022/2448692 allowing certain financial transactions. (Here)
After a long delay compared to the United States and the EU, the UK introduced Russia (Sanctions) (EU Exit) (Amendment) (No. 17) Regulations 2022 to impose prohibitions on the provision of certain financial services to Russia. (Here)
In the United States, FinCEN issued a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking that will govern the access to and protection of beneficial ownership information. (Here)
The United States imposed blocking sanctions on several individuals and entities, including Rosbank, under its Russia program. To limit the unintended impacts of the designation of Rosbank and to clarify the new sanctions, OFAC issued two general licenses and issued two FAQs (Here, the Department of the Treasury's press release, the Department of State's press release, and the Department of State's Fact Sheet)
In a strategic trade control-related development in the United States, an individual was sentenced to 33 months in prison followed by two years of supervised release for a scheme to illegally export defense technical data to foreign nationals in Turkey in connection with the fraudulent manufacturing of parts and components used by the U.S. military, in violation of the Arms Export Control Act. (Here)
Friday, December 16
The Commerce Department’s Bureau of Industry and Security (BIS) released two rules. The first rule added 36 entities to the Entity List. Most of the added entities are located in China. The second rule removes entities from the Unverified List due to satisfactory completion of End-Use Checks and verification of those entities’ bona fides in cooperation with the China's government. A net total of 25 Chinese parties are being removed from our restricted party lists. The second rule also adds 9 Russian parties to the Entity List from the Unverified List. (Here)
The EU Council unveiled its ninth sanctions package against Russia. As part of the ninth package, the Council, among other things, imposed blocking sanctions on 141 individuals and 49 entities, expanded its export controls, imposed sanctions on the Russian media. The Council also made slight amendment to allow certain activities under its exising restricionts against Russia. (Here, press release related to new designations, press release related to other new restrictions)
Recommendation of the Week
You may want to read an article (Russia’s wartime economy: learning to live without imports) published by the Financial Times about how the Russian economy is coping with the sanctions.