A new U.S. executive order significantly raises Russia-related compliance risks for foreign banks that may have thought they weren’t subject to U.S. sanctions authorities, law firms said this month. The order also could lead to new risks for U.S. businesses, the firms said, which may need to conduct more due diligence on any foreign financial institutions with ties to their supply chains.
The Office of Foreign Assets Control this week sanctioned one person, two entities and three aircraft with ties to Russia, according to a Jan. 11 update to its Specially Designated Nationals List. The designations target Vladimir Vladimirovich Mikheychik, Ashuluk Firing Range, and Vladimirovka Advanced Weapons and Research Complex. OFAC also sanctioned aircraft with tail numbers RF-78757, RF-82011 and RF-86898.
Businesses and industry lawyers should expect to see an increase in Foreign Corrupt Practices Act enforcement this year, especially as DOJ more frequently uses data analytics to find possible violations, said Dan Kahn, the former chief of DOJ’s FCPA unit.
The U.K.'s Office of Financial Sanctions Implementation on Jan. 9 published its "Asset Reporting Privacy Policy," outlining how the agency will use personal data of designated parties under the Russia sanctions regime. The agency collects the sanctioned parties' names, email addresses, residential addresses and financial information.
The European Commission recently updated its more than 350 pages of frequently asked questions on Russia-related sanctions to provide guidance on its latest sweeping sanctions package announced in December (see 2312180070). The updated FAQs, dated Dec. 22, address how the EU will enforce new restrictions on Russian iron and steel products and their effective dates, how sanctions apply to certain divestments related to Russia, information on the EU’s new import ban on Russian diamonds and more.
Taiwan will soon expand its export controls against Russia and Belarus to align its restrictions with the U.S. and other trading partners, Taiwan’s Ministry of Economic Affairs said in a notice last week. The controls will apply to the list of 45 Harmonized System codes targeted by the U.S., the EU and others, which includes common high-priority items Russia is seeking to import for its military (see 2309200031 and 2310020023).
The U.K.'s Office of Financial Sanctions Implementation on Jan. 2 amended a Russia-related general license to reflect the name change of VTB Bank (Europe) SE to OWH SE. The license, issued in March 2022, authorizes certain transactions involving Russia-based VTB Capital and its subsidiaries (see 2203020019).
The European Council on Jan. 3 added Russian-owned diamond mining firm PJSC Alrosa and its CEO Pavel Alekseevich Marinychev to the Russia sanctions list, the council announced. The company is responsible for over 90% of all Russian diamond production, the council said, adding that the designations "complement" the import ban on Russian diamonds adopted Dec. 18 (see 2312180070).
The Commerce Department’s export enforcement actions in 2023 resulted in the “highest number ever” of convictions, temporary denial orders and post-conviction denial orders, the Bureau of Industry and Security wrote in a year-end review. It also said it worked with foreign governments to complete over 1,500 end-use checks, “our most ever in a single year,” and added more than 465 parties from China, Iran, Russia and elsewhere to the Entity List.
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