The U.K. this week issued new guidance to mark the official launch of the Office of Trade Sanctions Implementation, a new agency that it said will boost the country’s powers to investigate, catch and penalize Russia-related sanctions evaders and others who breach U.K. trade controls outside the country (see 2409130015).
A DOJ indictment unsealed this week charges three Russians with export control violations after the agency said they illegally bought more than $225,000 worth of U.S. microelectronics, hiding from American exporters that the items were destined for the Russian military.
Representatives from the U.S., Singapore, the Philippines and the United Arab Emirates convened this week with Maldivian officials in the Maldives to discuss export controls and other trade issues during the inaugural Maldives Strategic Trade Management Forum.
New export compliance guidance issued by the Bureau of Industry and Security outlines the agency’s due diligence expectations for financial institutions and warns that companies that “self-blind” to red flags could face penalties.
A Dutch court sentenced an unnamed Soviet Union-born defendant to two years and eight months in prison last week for exporting more than 460 sanctioned aircraft parts to three Russian companies, the London office of Duane Morris said.
The U.K. on Oct. 8 corrected four entries listed in its cyber sanctions regime. The changes correct name spellings and a date of birth for Eduard Benderskiy, Aleksey Shchetinin, Dmitriy Slobodskoy and Maksim Yakubets, who were sanctioned for their ties to Russian crybercrime group Evil Corp.
The U.K. on Oct. 8 sanctioned one person and three entities with ties to chemical weapons, including Igor Anatolyevich Kirillov, head of the radiological chemical and biological defense troops in Russia, which is involved in transferring chemical weapons for use in the war in Ukraine. The agency also sanctioned the 33rd Scientific Research and Testing Institute, Radiological Chemical and Biological Defence Troops of the Ministry of Defence of the Russian Federation and the Russian Ministry of Defence 27th Scientific Centre.
A new EU sanctions framework against Russia will allow the bloc to designate people and entities involved in undermining foreign elections and democratic institutions, the sabotage of economic activities, disinformation and manipulation, "malicious" cyber activities and more. The Council of the EU said it established the new framework Oct. 8, allowing the EU to sanction those undermining the "fundamental values of the EU and its member states, their security, independence and integrity, as well as those of international organisations and third countries." The framework was based on a proposal by Josep Borrell, the EU's foreign affairs and security policy chief, to respond to the "continued campaign of hybrid activities by Russia," the council said.
The U.S. is increasingly expecting companies to monitor government guidance as well as export violations committed by others, and to use those cases as “lessons learned” to improve their own compliance programs, lawyers said this week.
The EU General Court on Oct. 2 upheld the validity of the EU prohibition on the provision of legal advisory services to the Russian government and to entities established in Russia. The court said the sanction doesn't undermine the right of all persons to be advised by a lawyer for "conducting, pre-empting or anticipating judicial proceedings."