Pete Jeydel, a former lawyer with Steptoe, has joined Troutman Pepper as a partner to lead the sanctions and trade controls practice, the firm announced. Jeydel's practice centers on export controls and sanctions and "related areas" such as the new outbound investment security program, the firm said.
Jacob Kopnick
Jacob Kopnick, Associate Editor, is a reporter for Trade Law Daily and its sister publications Export Compliance Daily and International Trade Today. He joined the Warren Communications News team in early 2021 covering a wide range of topics including trade-related court cases and export issues in Europe and Asia. Jacob's background is in trade policy, having spent time with both CSIS and USTR researching international trade and its complexities. Jacob is a graduate of the University of Michigan with a B.A. in Public Policy.
A World Trade Organization dispute panel ruled on Dec. 5 that Panama's phytosanitary restrictions on strawberries, pineapples, bananas, plantains and dairy and meat products from Costa Rica violated WTO rules.
Jeremy Paner, a former sanctions investigator for the Office of Foreign Assets Control, has joined Hughes Hubbard as a partner in its sanctions, export controls and anti-money laundering practice, the firm announced. Paner worked at OFAC from 2007 to 2013 and was most recently with Squire Patton.
DOJ filed a civil forfeiture complaint Dec. 2 in the U.S. District Court for Southern District of New York, seeking the proceeds from the sale of a California music studio that are allegedly beneficially owned by sanctioned Russian oligarch Oleg Deripaska. The complaint alleges that the proceeds, totaling $3.4 million, "are the proceeds of sanctions violations."
The U.K. sanctioned Northern Ireland resident Brian Sheridan under suspicions that he was providing financial assistance to members of the New Irish Republican Army, the Office of Financial Sanctions Implementation announced. The designation was made under the domestic counterterrorism sanctions regime. U.K. Economic Secretary to the Treasury Tulip Siddiq said the listing is the "first use of the Treasury-led domestic counter terrorism financial sanctions regime targeting Northern Ireland related terrorism."
The U.K. transitioned an EU countervailing duty on biodiesel from Indonesia to its own trade remedies authority on Nov. 28. The move maintains the CVD rates on shipments of fatty-acid mono-alkyl esters or paraffini gasoils obtained from synthesis or hydro-treatment and of non-fossil origin in pure or blended form. The duties range from 8% to 18%.
A dual U.S.-Russian citizen was arrested Dec. 2 for trying to export two small aircraft to Russia, said DOJ, which also seized the aircraft.
The Council of the European Union on Dec. 2 renewed its global human rights sanctions regime for another year, extending the restrictions until Dec. 8, 2025. The restrictions currently apply to 116 individuals and 33 entities.
Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala was appointed director-general of the World Trade Organization for a second four-year term to begin on Sept. 1, the WTO announced. Okonjo-Iweala was initially elevated to the position in 2021, becoming the first woman and first African to head the global trade body. In a statement on the reappointment, the director-general said she remains "firmly committed to delivering results that matter -- results that ultimately improve the lives of people around the world. By promoting trade as a driver of economic growth and resilience, the WTO will continue to provide a collaborative platform for Members to address shared global challenges."
The founder and former CEO of a California-based freight forwarding company pleaded guilty on Nov. 26 to conspiring to violate export laws by sending goods to Chinese companies on the Commerce Department's Entity List, DOJ announced.