Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) has announced full blocking sanctions against 118 entities and individuals, including Gazprombank and fifty other banks. Thursday's actions bring it in alignment with allied sanctions on Gazprombank—the largest bank not previously sanctioned. OFAC’s action includes the designation of Gazprombank, more than 50 internationally connected Russian banks, more than 40 Russian securities registrars, and 15 Russian finance officials.
The U.S.-China Economic and Security Review Commission (USCC) has officially submitted its 2024 Annual Report to Congress,. The report, unanimously approved by the Commission’s 12 members, although Dr. Cleveland inserted an addendum witholding her support for two of the reccomendations.
The Treasury reversed its denial of an application in 2022 to host small group, direct engagement conferences which include the participation of sanctioned individuals.
The regulators responsible for drafting the biggest rulemaking changes to space-related export controls briefed stakeholders on the initiative,, addressed some initial questions, and urged engagement through comments as the rules are finalized. The November 6 presentation included officials from the State Department, Commerce and NASA who shared their perspectives on their remits. The event finished with a review of some questions submitted by stakeholders.
Bureau of Industry and Security (BIS) imposed a civil penalty of $500,000 against GlobalFoundries U.S. Inc., a semiconductor wafer manufacturing company headquartered in Malta, New York, and its subsidiary, GlobalFoundries U.S. 2 LLC (collectively, “GlobalFoundries”). The penalty relates to GlobalFoundries’ shipments of semiconductor wafers valued at approximately $17.1 million to SJ Semiconductor (SJS), a company on the BIS Entity List, without the requisite license or other authorization from BIS.
…Monday the Treasury Department published the final language of the outbound investment requlations, governing US firm's investment in Chinese strategic technology. The Treasury issued a final rule to implement Executive Order 14105 of August 9, 2023, “Addressing United States Investments in Certain National Security Technologies and Products in Countries of Concern” (the Outbound Order). The Final Rule provides the operative regulations and a detailed explanatory discussion regarding their intent and application.
Bureau of Industry and Security (BIS) added 26 entities to the Entity List, while giving relief to one Canadian firm for substantive reforms to its business practices. Sandvine Incorporated, an entity listed under the destinations of Canada, India, Japan, Malaysia, Sweden, and the UAE, has been removed following significant reforms to address and prevent the misuse of its technology in ways that undermine democracy and abuse human rights
Compliance-challenged defense contracting giant RTX has agreed to pay nearly $1 billion to settle charges of government contract fraud, foreign bribery, and export control violations. The settlement comes on the heels of a $200 million settlement in August with the State Department [12717] for a raft of export control violations.
From October, the Office of Trade Sanctions Implementation (OTSI) will be empowered to investigate breaches of trade sanctions and impose corresponding civil monetary penalties. We examine the powers OTSI will have, how it will interact with other UK sanctions authorities and what impact it may have.
The G7 published joint guidance for industry on preventing evasion of the export controls and sanctions imposed on Russia. The guidance document contains items which pose a heightened risk of being diverted to Russia, updated red flag indicators of potential export control and/or sanctions evasion, Best practices for industry to address these red flags, and screening tools and resources to assist with due diligence.
The Commerce Department proposed prohibiting the sale or import of connected vehicles integrating specific pieces of hardware and software, or those components sold separately, with a sufficient nexus to the People’s Republic of China (PRC) or Russia. Published by the Bureau of Industry and Security, the rule focuses on hardware and software integrated into the Vehicle Connectivity System (VCS) and software integrated into the Automated Driving System (ADS). These are the critical systems that, through specific hardware and software, allow for external connectivity and autonomous driving capabilities in connected vehicles.
The Commerce Department’s Bureau of Industry and Security (BIS) issued a final rule making changes to the Export Administration Regulations (EAR) related to BIS’s policies and practices regarding voluntary self-disclosures (VSDs) and to the BIS Penalty Guidelines. The rule revises the BIS Penalty Guidelines to change how the Office of Export Enforcement (OEE) calculates the base penalty in administrative cases and how OEE applies various factors to the base penalty to determine the final penalty.
On September 6, the U.S. Departments of State, Agriculture, Commerce, Homeland Security, and Treasury jointly released an updated warning for U.S. businesses about risks to their operations and activities in Hong Kong. Risk factors that were formerly limited to mainland China are now also a concern in Hong Kong and could affect commerce, trade, and seemingly routine individual commercial activities in Hong Kong. Many of these risks stem from the 2020 Law of the People’s Republic of China on Safeguarding National Security in the Hong Kong SAR (National Security Law, or NSL), as well as the Safeguarding National Security Ordinance (SNS Ordinance), which was enacted in March 2024 under Article 23 of Hong Kong’s Basic Law.
Bureau of Industry and Security (BIS) is implementing export controls on several semiconductor, quantum, and additive manufacturing items with an interim final rule published September 6th. The rule adds and revises Export Control Classification Numbers (ECCNs) in the Commerce Control List, adds a new license exception for countries that have implemented equivalent technical controls, and adds two new worldwide license requirements to the national security and regional stability controls in the Export Administration Regulations (EAR). The new controls include a limited number of deemed export requirements in the sectors of quantum computers, materials, and related electronic assemblies; aerospace technology; and integrated circuit “development” or “production.”
RTX Corporation, the defense contracting roll-up formerly known as Raytheon, has entered into a settlement agreement with the U.S. Department of State following a comprehensive investigation into violations of the Arms Export Control Act (AECA) and the International Traffic in Arms Regulations (ITAR). By paying $100 million in fines and promising to spend another $100 million on compliance programs, the firm avoids debarment and further criminal or civil action.
The Justice Department declined to prosecute the Boston Consulting Group, Inc. (BCG) for a scheme in which the firm paid $4.3 million in "commissions" to obtain consulting contracts with the government of Angola. The Government’s investigation found evidence that from in or about 2011 until in or about 2017, BCG, through its Lisbon, Portugal office, paid its agent in Angola to help BCG obtain business from the Angolan Ministry of Economy (“MINEC”) and the National Bank of Angola (“BNA”).
The Commerce Department’s Bureau of Industry and Security (BIS) is taking action to further restrict the supply of both U.S.-origin and “U.S. branded” (i.e., labeled) items to Russia and Belarus for the Kremlin’s war efforts. BIS has imposed controls on a range of items subject to the Export Administration Regulations (EAR) that did not previously require export licenses when destined for Russia. Also imposed are similarly stringent controls on items subject to the EAR that are destined for Belarus. Notably, both countries have been made subject to broad in-country transfer controls.
In concert with the Commerce Department measures, Treasury and the State Department targeted nearly 400 individuals and entities both in Russia and in Asia, Europe, and the Middle East—whose products and services enable Russia to sustain its war effort and evade sanctions. Treasury targets include ammunition and materiel suppliers, trust and corporate formation entities, cyber and precious metals actors, advanced procurement networks and Russia's metals and mining industry. The measures also target Russian financial technology companies that provide necessary software and IT solutions for Russia’s financial sector.
The Commerce Department's Bureau of Industry and Security (BIS) imposed a $5.8 million civil penalty against a Pennsylvania manufacturer for shipments of "low-level items" to parties tied to the People’s Republic of China’s (PRC) hypersonics, unmanned aerial vehicles (UAV), and military electronics programs. Formerly known as Tyco Electronics, and before that AMP Incorporated, TE Connectivity Corporation is one of the world's leading manufacturers of connectors and other electronic sensors and assemblies.
The Treasury-let interagency Committeee on Foreign Investment in the U.S. (CFIUS) rolled out a revised website, aimed at providing increased transparency and information about enforcement actions. Included in the rollout was disclosure of a record fine related to the telecoms merger between German T-Mobile and Japanese-controlled Sprint.