On March 8, 2016, the Department of Commerce’s Bureau of Industry and Security (“BIS”) issued a final rule (effective upon publication and with grandfathering limited to items already en route aboard a carrier as of March 8) adding the Chinese multinational telecommunications company Zhongzing Telecommunications Equipment Corporation (“ZTE Corporation”) and three affiliated entities to the Entity List of the Export Administration Regulations (“EAR”). The Entity List identifies parties reasonably believed to be involved in activities contrary to the national security or foreign policy interests of the United States. BIS’s statement on the listing of ZTE Corporation is available here.
Introduction
Following the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea’s (“DPRK” or “North Korea“) latest nuclear test and rocket launch on 6 January 2016 and 7 February 2016 respectively, the UN Security Council (“UNSC“) unanimously adopted Resolution 2270 (2016) (the “UN Resolution“) on 2 March 2016.
The UN Resolution contains far-reaching sanctions aimed at cutting off funds for DPRK’s nuclear and other banned weapons programmes, whilst avoiding “adverse humanitarian consequences” for civilians. The UN Resolution adds sectoral sanctions, broadens the scope of the existing financial sanctions and arms embargo, imposes new measures targeting proliferation networks, and expands the list of designated individuals and entities.
Today, the Swiss Federal Council has adopted a new regulation about automatic implementation of UNSCR sanctions lists into Swiss law. This will enable changes to UNSCR sanctions lists to become immediately effective in Switzerland. The new regulation enters into force today (4 March) 6pm CET. Previously, such changes had to first be implemented by way of the Federal Council adopting or adapting the respective sanctions regulations. Automatic implementation of the sanctions lists henceforth applies both…
The Australian Government has removed the requirement for financial institutions to obtain a permit for financial transactions with Iran exceeding AUD 20,000. These were known as “financial countermeasures”. Previously, under the Anti-Money Laundering and Counter-Terrorism Financing (Iran Countermeasures) Regulations 2014, Australian financial institutions needed a permit to provide certain designated services to Iranian persons and entities for transactions exceeding AUD 20,000. The removal of the financial countermeasures was effective 27 February 2016. The removal of…