The Office of Foreign Assets Control this week sanctioned three accountants and four companies linked to a timeshare fraud led by the Mexico-based Cartel de Jalisco Nueva Generacion. OFAC, the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network and the FBI also issued a joint alert urging financial institutions to submit suspicious activity reports to FinCEN about transactions that may be tied to timeshare fraud in Mexico, along with several red flags to monitor.
Export Compliance Daily is providing readers with the top stories from last week in case you missed them. You can find any article by searching for the title or by clicking on the hyperlinked reference number.
The Office of Foreign Assets Control last week released another video in its ongoing effort to provide guidance on U.S. sanctions programs and rules. The latest episode, released July 12, features guidance on “what it means when funds are blocked in connection with OFAC sanctions, as well as recommended steps for what to do if your funds have been blocked.”
The Office of Foreign Assets Control this week renewed a Russia-related general license that authorizes certain transactions involving the Russian Federation's Central Bank, Wealth Fund and Ministry of Finance. General License No. 13J which replaced 13I, now authorizes those transactions, including taxes, fees, or import duties, through 12:01 a.m. EDT Oct. 9. The license was set to expire July 11.
Export Compliance Daily is providing readers with the top stories from last week in case you missed them. You can find any article by searching for the title or by clicking on the hyperlinked reference number.
The Office of Foreign Assets Control deleted two Russia-related entries from its Specially Designation Nationals List. The agency removed Marina Igorevna Tsareva, who was sanctioned in 2018 for helping to procure underwater equipment and diving systems for Russian government agencies, and Alexey Valeryevich Panferov, who OFAC had sanctioned in 2022 as part of a tranche of designations targeting Russia's defense industrial base. An agency spokesperson didn't immediately respond to a request for comment about why OFAC removed both from the SDN List.
The Office of Foreign Assets Control this week again renewed a Venezuela-related license that authorizes certain transactions related to exports or reexports of liquefied petroleum gas to Venezuela (see 2107120054 and 2207070032). General License No. 40C, which replaces General License No. 40B, is valid through 12:01 a.m. EDT July 8, 2025. The license was scheduled to expire July 10.
The Office of Foreign Assets Control this month released new guidance to outline how people and companies should submit information, documents and “other materials” to the agency during a sanctions breach investigation, for voluntary disclosure, in response to an OFAC subpoena, and more. The guidance updates the agency’s “former data delivery standards,” OFAC said, and “provides technical and general guidance to persons submitting material to OFAC,” especially for submissions “that may entail voluminous documentation (e.g., more than 100 pages).” The document includes guidance for “organizing document productions,” includes “general conventions for submitting electronic documents,” and provides guidance on submitting data under and over 150 megabytes in total size.
Charlotte Baskin-Gerwitz, a former Office of Foreign Assets Control sanctions compliance officer, has joined J.P. Morgan as its vice president of global sanctions advisory, she announced July 1 on LinkedIn. Baskin-Gerwitz, who left OFAC in 2023, most recently worked as an associate in Morrison Foerster’s national security practice.
The Office of Foreign Assets Control on July 3 updated a range of Russia-related entries on its Specially Designated Nationals List and Sectoral Sanctions Identifications List to specify that they present secondary sanctions risks. The agency added language to those entries to clarify that they present a secondary sanctions risk under “Section 11 of Executive Order 14024,” a 2021 order that authorizes certain sanctions against Russia. The agency didn’t provide more information.