Monday, March 29th
- This week started with no major sanctions development. (Pretty rare!)
Tuesday, March 30th - The United States Department of Justice announced that a Russian National pleaded guilty to attempted evasion of the United States's sanctions. The individual in question attempted to export a U.S. origin turbine to a Russian Arctic deepwater drilling platform. In doing so, he conspired with two other individuals and he was trying to use his company in Italy to hide the final destination of the turbine. (Here)
- The United States Department of State published its 2020 Country Reports on Human Rights Practices. (Here) Even though, this report does not entail any sanctions against any individuals or country, it could be used as a basis for further sanctions like those pursuant to the Global Magnistky Program, or pursuant to the Hong Kong Human Rights and Democracy Act.
Wednesday, March 31st
- Do you remember that paying the compensation to the victims of a number of attacks was part of the deal which took Sudan off the list of the State Sponsors of terrorism? Well, $335 million was received by the United States on Wednesday. (Here)
- OFAC removed four entries that were mistakenly added to the SDN list. (Here) If you want to know more about the story behind these delistings, check here.
- The United States Department of State published 2021 Hong Kong Policy Act Report. (Here) Similar to many other reports submitted to the U.S. Congress, there are no sanctions measures attached to such reports. Yet such reports are important because (i) they indicate the policy of the government, and (ii) in some cases the President (or her/his delegate) may or shall impose sanctions according to the finding of those reports.
Thursday, April 1st
- OFSI added Myanmar Economic Corporation to the list of the UK sanctions target. (Here) This entity was designated by OFAC last week. (Here)
- OFSI updated its General guidance for financial sanctions to reflect the update it had made to the monetary penalty guidance on March 10th. (Here)
- The United States extended Iraq's waiver to purchase gas and power from Iran for another 120 days without being threatened by the U.S. sanctions. (Here)
- The United States Department of Treasury started "a top to bottom review of U.S. economic and financial sanctions"by meeting a number of "thought leaders" in this field. Take a look at the list of the participants. (Here)
Friday, April 2nd
- Six individuals who were listed under French unilateral sanctions came out of the sanctions list as the 6-month period following their designation was elapsed. (Here)
- The U.S. President revoked Executive Order 13928 on “Blocking Property of Certain Persons Associated with the International Criminal Court (ICC).” OFAC is yet to remove the name of the two individuals listed under this program though as of the date of this publication. (Here)
Recommendations of the week
- This week I would like to recommend to you a thought-provoking webinar entitled "Do Global Sanctions Work?" Go check it out and enjoy it!
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