Treasury’s Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) and Commerce’s Bureau of Industry and Security (BIS) are issuing a new SAR key term to support financial institutions in reporting potential efforts to evade U.S. export controls beyond the Russia-related circumstances that were the focus of prior alerts.

The United States on November 3 placed sanctions on a Russian national for allegedly helping Russian elites launder and transfer money using virtual currency in contravention of sanctions …

The U.S. State Department designated two former ministers and one current vice minister from Guatemala due to their involvement in "significant corruption," an Oct. 31 statement reads.

Artificial intelligence, or AI, has been heralded as a way to disrupt the workforce–to the chagrin of many human workers. Tesla CEO Elon Musk was hopeful about the future of AI in a meeting this week with UK Prime Minister Rishi Sunak.

In a coordinated effort with Canada and the United Kingdom, the Treasury Department’s Office of Foreign Assets Control published a new directive Oct. 31 that prohibits certain financial services by US persons to or for the benefit of Myanma Oil and Gas Enterprise, as well as five military regime appointed officials and officers.

The U.S. Treasury's Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) recently added eight individuals and four entities to its specially designated nationals list in response to the Hamas attacks on Oct. 7.

A bipartisan group of U.S. lawmakers has introduced legislation calling on the Biden administration to impose sanctions on 49 top Hong Kong justice officials and judges for whittling away basic rights.  The Hong Kong Sanctions Act requires the president to determine whether certain Hong Kong officials violated human rights and sanctions should be imposed in accordance with the Global Magnitsky Human Rights Accountability Act, the Hong Kong Human Rights and Democracy Act of 2019, or the Hong Kong Autonomy Act.  

The Financial Action Task Force (FATF), an intergovernmental body that establishes international standards for anti-money laundering, countering the financing of terrorism, and countering the financing of proliferation of weapons of mass destruction (AML/CFT/CPF), issued public statements at the conclusion of its plenary meeting last month that identified jurisdictions with AML/CFT/CPF deficiencies. Additionally, the FATF noted that the Russian Federation’s war of aggression against Ukraine continues to run counter to FATF’s principles, and, thus the suspension of the membership of the Russian Federation continues to stand.

Senate Finance Committee Chair Ron Wyden (D-Ore) praised the Commerce Department for putting in place new policies to prevent the promotion of US surveillance technology to foreign governments in response to his request earlier this year. “For the first time the Department is making clear that the United States will not help companies find foreign markets for products or services that undermine democracy or enable repressive surveillance and discrimination," said Sen. Ron Wyden (D-OR) applauding the change.

Congressional China hawks sent a letter to Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo Thursday, calling for the Department  to regulate the open-source collaboration model employed in modern advanced semiconductor design.   Reps. Mike Gallagher (R-WI) and Raja Krishnamoorthi (D-IL), along with Sen. Marco Rubio and fourteen other lawmakers call for the Commerce Department to “build a robust ecosystem for open-source collaboration among the U.S. and our allies while ensuring the PRC is unable to benefit from that work.”

Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) announced sanctions on a sweeping roster of individuals and entities from People’s Republic of China (PRC), Türkiye, and the United Arab Emirates (the UAE) abetting Russia’s war against Ukraine by providing Russia with technology and equipment from third countries. The U.S. Department of State is also issuing nearly 100 sanctions today targeting Russia’s future energy production and revenue, metals and mining sector, defense procurement, and those involved in supporting the Russian government’s war effort and other malign activities.

Representative Chris Smtih (R-NJ) and Senator Jeff Merkley (D-OR) of the bicameral Congressional-Executive Commission on China (CECC) sent letters Oct. 31 inquiring about Costco and ADI's selling of banned products with ties to China.

November 2, the Commerce Department’s Bureau of Industry and Security (BIS) released a rule adding 13 entities to the Entity List for supporting Russia’s military through the procurement, development, and proliferation of Russian unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs). Twelve entities being added are in Russia and one is in Uzbekistan.  

Four individuals were arrested, and an indictment and criminal complaint were unsealed this week regarding two separate conspiracies to unlawfully export controlled, dual-use technologies to Russia. October 31, a criminal complaint was unsealed, and a Brooklyn, New York, resident and two Canadian nationals were arrested in connection with a global procurement scheme in which the defendants used two corporate entities registered in Brooklyn to unlawfully source and purchase dual-use electronics on behalf of end-users in Russia, including companies affiliated with the Russian military. Separately, a Brooklyn resident was arrested, and a four-count indictment was unsealed alleging an illegal exports scheme to procure dual-use electronic components for entities in Russia involved in the development and manufacture of drones for the Russian war effort in Ukraine.

GE Healthcare Technologies, a spinoff of General Electric, has reported potential violations of the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA) in its China-based operations. The disclosure was made in the company's quarterly filing with the United States Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) on Ootober 31. According to the filing, GE Healthcare identified "tender irregularities and other potential violations" related to its activities across multiple Chinese provinces. This marks the first instance that the company has publicly acknowledged possible FCPA violations.

Rep. Mike Gallagher (R-WI) and Rep. Raja Krishnamoorthi (D-IL), Chairman and Ranking Member of the House Select Committee on the Strategic Competition Between the United States and Chinese Communist Party, sent a letter to Janet Yellen, Secretary of the Treasury, with recommendations for the implementation of the Biden Administration's August Executive Order on outbound American investment in China.

In a coordinated effort with Canada and the UK, Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) published a new directive that prohibits certain financial services by U.S. persons to or for the benefit of Myanma Oil and Gas Enterprise (MOGE), as well as five military regime appointed officials and officers.

The U.S. Department of Commerce  is pausing for approximately 90 days the issuance of new export licenses involving certain firearms, related components, and ammunition under its jurisdiction and the provision of new export assistance activities for such products to all non-governmental end users worldwide, apart from those in certain destinations.

  The Federal government announced the filing of a civil forfeiture complaint against the Motor Yacht Amadea, a 348-foot luxury vessel reportedly worth over $300 million.   The Complaint alleges that the superyacht, which is beneficially owned by Russian oligarch Suleiman Kerimov, was improved and maintained in violation of applicable sanctions against Kerimov and those acting on his behalf.

Two House bills seek to enforce sanctions on Iranian petroleum transactions.