An executive order signed by President Joe Biden last week gives the U.S. broader authority to sanction financial institutions involved in shipments to Russia, marking a “significant step forward” in holding those foreign banks accountable for helping Moscow buy a range of critical items for its military, senior administration officials said.
Ian Cohen
Ian Cohen, Deputy Managing Editor, is a reporter with Export Compliance Daily and its sister publications International Trade Today and Trade Law Daily, where he covers export controls, sanctions and international trade issues. He previously worked as a local government reporter in South Florida. Ian graduated with a journalism degree from the University of Florida in 2017 and lives in Washington, D.C. He joined the staff of Warren Communications News in 2019.
The Treasury Department this week published a final rule that will put in place safeguards around sensitive information submitted to the agency as part of its new beneficial ownership information (BOI) reporting requirements, which are designed to help the government prevent sanctioned parties and others from hiding money or property in the U.S. The rule adopts a range of changes from the proposed version released last year, including one that Treasury said will allow financial institutions to access information from a newly created BOI database for a broader set of reasons, including to help them conduct certain sanctions due diligence.
A New York insurance company reached a $466,000 settlement with the Office of Foreign Assets Control after the U.S. said it provided insurance policies for the blocked company of a sanctioned Russian-Ukrainian oligarch. OFAC said Privilege Underwriters Reciprocal Exchange, which provides insurance policies for luxury homes, cars and boats, continued collecting insurance payments from the company for more than two years after its owner was added to the agency’s Specially Designated Nationals List.
A new executive order scheduled to be signed by President Joe Biden Dec. 22 will give the U.S. new authority to sanction financial institutions that facilitate transactions for companies sending controlled goods to Russia.
The oil shipping industry will soon be required to comply with new attestation and record-keeping rules as part of the global price cap on Russian oil, the Treasury Department said in an updated price cap guidance released Dec. 20. The agency also issued new sanctions against a Russian government-controlled ship manager and other traders who frequently transport Russian oil above the price cap.
The Bureau of Industry and Security this week added 13 Chinese companies to its Unverified List after it was unable to verify the “legitimacy and reliability” of the entities through end-use checks, including their ability to responsibly receive controlled U.S. exports. If BIS is unable to complete an end-use check on those companies within 60 days, it can move them to the more restrictive Entity List.
The U.S. this week sanctioned 10 companies and four people with ties to Iran’s unmanned drone program, including Hossein Hatefi Ardakani, the Iranian-based leader of the network who helped illegally procure hundreds of thousands of dollars worth of U.S. and foreign-made components to Iran. Along with the new sanctions, DOJ charged Ardakani and his accomplice, China-based Gary Lam, for violating U.S. export controls.
The U.K. announced plans this week to put in place a carbon border adjustment mechanism, which could lead to new import taxes and due diligence requirements on aluminum, cement, ceramics, fertilizer, glass, hydrogen, iron, steel and other industrial sectors associated with high carbon emissions. The mechanism, which is expected to be implemented in 2027, came after a 12-week public comment period in which over 100 representatives from industry, non-governmental organizations, think tanks and academia gave input about the types of products that should be covered, how import taxes should be calculated, a timeline for implementation and more.
The EU this week announced a new wide-ranging package of Russia sanctions, including designations of more than 140 people and companies as well as new import restrictions on Russian raw materials used to produce certain metals and new export controls on dual-use technology and industrial goods. The package also includes new restrictions on exports of industrial-related services, a broader ban on Russian energy products, a “tighter obligation” for member states to trace assets of sanctioned parties, new anti-sanctions circumvention measures and more.
A trade group is urging the Bureau of Industry and Security to revise its export controls surrounding encryption and mass-market goods, saying some of those less-sensitive items should no longer be subject to strict license requirements. The group also asked BIS to eliminate some encryption-related reporting requirements that burden compliance professionals and said the agency should devote more resources to its licensing division, which will help speed up decisions on applications and classification requests.