The Office of Foreign Assets Control last week updated several general licenses related to the Yemen-based Houthis, also known as Ansarallah, the group designated by the Trump administration as a foreign terrorist organization (see 2503040008).
The Bureau of Industry and Security released a "preliminary" agenda for its update conference scheduled for next week. The agenda includes two plenary sessions, a panel on export enforcement, and breakout sessions covering various topics, including semiconductor export controls, "emerging technology and foreign technology analysis," end-use/end-user controls, AUKUS, export enforcement best practices, the Office of Information and Communications Technology and Services, a regulatory review, space controls, and the Defense Production Act. The agenda also includes a list of speakers, which includes senior officials from BIS, the Office of Foreign Assets Control, the State Department and the Pentagon as well as government officials from Japan, South Korea and the EU. BIS said the agenda is subject to change.
The House Financial Services Committee unanimously approved several bills March 5 dealing with foreign investment and sanctions.
The Office of Foreign Assets Control on March 6 again extended a general license that continues to delay an exemption that would authorize certain transactions related to Petroleos de Venezuela, the country’s state-owned energy company. General License 5R, which replaced GL 5Q, now authorizes certain transactions with PdVSA involving an 8.5% bond on or after July 3. The previous license was set to allow those transactions to occur on or after March 7.
The Office of Foreign Assets Control this week sanctioned senior members and operatives of the Yemen-based Houthis, the group designated by the Trump administration as a foreign terrorist organization (see 2503040008). OFAC said the officials smuggled military items and weapon systems into Houthi-controlled areas of Yemen, negotiated Houthi weapons procurements from Russia, or have recruited Yemeni civilians to fight for Russia in Ukraine.
The U.S. this week sanctioned Shanghai-based Zhou Shuai and his company, Shanghai Heiying Information Technology Co., for illegally acquiring, brokering and selling data from “highly sensitive U.S. critical infrastructure networks.” OFAC said he has sold “illegally exfiltrated data” and access to compromised computer networks to other Chinese cyber hackers, including Yin Kecheng, who was allegedly involved in the recent reported hacking of the Treasury Department by the Chinese government (see 2501170072 and 2501020009). DOJ is offering up to $2 million for information leading to the arrest or conviction of Zhou and Yin.
The Office of Foreign Assets Control this week sanctioned Iran-based Behrouz Parsarad, who was the administrator of Nemesis, a former online darknet marketplace that allowed users to trade illegal drugs and services. OFAC said Parsarad created Nemesis and “held full control over the marketplace and its virtual currency wallets,” earning millions of dollars from the fees he charged users with every transaction. The agency said Nemesis was taken down in 2024 after an “international law enforcement operation.”
U.S. oil company Chevron will have until 12:01 a.m. ET on April 3 to wind down certain oil activities in Venezuela that had been authorized by an Office of Foreign Assets Control general license, OFAC said March 4. Updated General License 41A, which replaces GL 41, authorizes certain transactions “ordinarily incident and necessary to the wind down of transactions” related to Chevron’s joint ventures in Venezuela involving state-owned energy company Petroleos de Venezuela.
The Office of Foreign Assets Control soon will issue guidance about winding down Venezuela-related licenses after President Donald Trump said last week that he plans to reverse certain sanctions relief given to the country under the Biden administration (see 2502260056).
President Donald Trump on Feb. 26 said he is reversing certain sanctions relief provided to Venezuela by the Biden administration as part of an “oil transaction agreement” signed in November 2022. That date was when the Office of Foreign Assets Control granted U.S. oil company Chevron a general license to resume certain oil activities in Venezuela, which was intended to support the newly restarted negotiations between Venezuelan leader Nicolas Maduro’s regime and the country’s opposition party (see 2211280042).