On November 9, 2016, the US Treasury Department’s Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (“FinCEN”) issued a final rule (the “Final Rule”) imposing additional restrictions on North Korean banks and other financial institutions. The Final Rule follows a related June 3, 2016 Notice of Proposed Rulemaking and FinCEN’s June 2, 2016 Finding that North Korea is a jurisdiction of primary money laundering concern under Section 311 of the USA PATRIOT Act, 31 U.S.C. 5318A. These developments were discussed in our previous blog post.
On 7 October 2016, following his prior announcement (see prior blog post here) of the intention to terminate US sanctions targeting Myanmar (also known as Burma), President Obama issued an Executive Order (“the 7 October Executive Order”) terminating US sanctions targeting Myanmar. As a result of this action, the sanctions that previously restricted US Persons (i.e., US citizens or permanent residents, wherever located or employed; entities organized under US law (and their non-US branches); and persons located in the United States) from engaging in certain activities involving Myanmar or specific entities associated with Myanmar are no longer in effect. The US Treasury Department’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (“OFAC”) simultaneously published a Fact Sheet explaining these changes and updated its list of Frequently Asked Questions regarding Myanmar.
The US Treasury Department’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (“OFAC”), the US Department of State’s Directorate of Defense Trade Controls (“DDTC”), and the US Department of Commerce’s Bureau of Industry and Security (“BIS”) have announced increases in the maximum civil monetary penalties (“CMPs”) that may be imposed for violations of OFAC sanctions programs, the International Traffic in Arms Regulations, and the Export Administration Regulations (“EAR”), respectively. The new maximum penalty amounts come into effect on August 1, 2016.
On 3 June 2016, the U.S. Commerce Department’s Bureau of Industry and Security (“BIS”) published a Final Rule (the “BIS Final Rule”) revising a number of definitions in the Export Administration Regulations (“EAR”). BIS also posted new Frequently Asked Questions related to this rule. Concurrently, the U.S. Department of State published an Interim Final Rule (the “State Interim Rule” and, collectively with the BIS Final Rule, the “June 2016 Rules”) revising several definitions in the International Traffic in Arms Regulations (“ITAR”). The June 2016 Rules will go into effect on 1 September 2016. The State Department will accept comments on the State Interim Rule until 5 July 2016.