On October 9, 2024, the US Commerce Departmentâs Bureau of Industry and Security (âBISâ) issued guidance to financial institutions on best practices for compliance with the US Export Administrations Regulations (âEARâ). The guidance aims to help financial institutions minimize the inadvertent EAR violations, especially under General Prohibition 10 (âGP 10â), which prohibits financing or servicing items subject to the EAR with knowledge that a violation of the EAR has occurred, is about to occur, or…
The main US export controls regulator continues to take steps to demonstrate its focus on enforcement. Specifically, the US Department of Commerceâs Bureau of Industry and Security (âBISâ) issued a final rule (the “Rule”) on September 16, 2024, effective immediately, to amend the provisions in its regulations focused on the voluntary self-disclosure (“VSD”) process. Many of the changes in the Rule reflect guidance previously issued by BIS in individual memoranda (available here), which are now…
On September 3, 2024, the US Department of Stateâs Directorate of Defense Trade Controls (âDDTCâ) issued revised Guidance for U.S. Persons Abroad (âUSPABsâ) Authorization Requests (âUSPAB Guidanceâ) and updated FAQs on Defense Services and USPABs. Under the International Traffic in Arms Regulations (âITARâ), all USPABs need DDTC authorization before they can furnish ITAR-controlled defense services to any foreign person, including USPABsâ non-US employers. The principal changes to the USPAB Guidance are as follows:
As risks and complexities for sanctions investigations have grown, so has the number of regulators and enforcement agencies bringing enforcement actions, and not just in the United States. Enforcement agencies around the world are becoming more active, with a focus on enforcing sanctions and export controls targeting Russia since its February 2022 invasion of Ukraine. There has been a particular uptick in public enforcement of EU sanctions targeting Russia by various EU Member States in…