Monday, September 20th
- The U.S. Department of State imposed travel bans (a type of sanctions) against seven individuals in El Salvador and Guatemala. The legal basis for these bans was section 353 of the United States–Northern Triangle Enhanced Engagement Act. (Here)
Tuesday, September 21st - OFAC updated its Advisory on Potential Sanctions Risks for Facilitating Ransomware Payments. The new advisory highlighted a number of proactive steps companies can take to mitigate the risk of being a victim of ransomware attacks. OFAC also designated a virtual currency exchange. (Here, press release)
- The Security Council Committee established pursuant to resolution 1518 (2003) removed Baghdad Stock Exchange from its Sanctions List of individuals and entities. (Here)
Wednesday, September 22nd
- OFAC added eight individuals and two entities to its SDN list pursuant to the Kingpin Act program. It also removed several entities that were designated under the Kingpin Act program, as well as one entity under Somalia program. (Here, press release)
Thursday, September 23rd
- Ten individuals came off the list of sanctions targets in France as their six-month period of designation expired.
Friday, September 24th
- OFAC issued two highly anticipated General Licenses authorizing the flow of humanitarian assistance to Afghanistan even if it involves the Taliban and the Haqqani Network which are both designed under the U.S. Global Counter Terrorisms program. OFAC concurrently published four FAQs clarifying the effects of the two new General Licenses. (Here)
- The Huawei CFO, Wanzhou Meng, came to an end (at least for now)! She entered into a deferred prosecution agreement and was arraigned on charges of conspiracy to commit bank fraud and conspiracy to commit wire fraud, bank fraud and wire fraud. This ended the ongoing extradition proceedings in Canada and she is free to leave Canada. (Here) Guess what happened next! Two Canadian citizens that were detained for more than two and a half years were released by China. (Here)
Recommendation of the week
- This week I would like to recommend a truly great webinar held by the Atlantic Council about the future of the UN sanctions. (Here)
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