On May 20, 2022, the US Commerce Department’s Bureau of Industry and Security (“BIS”) announced the issuance of a temporary denial order denying the export privileges of the airline Rossiya to participate in transactions subject to the Export Administration Regulations (“EAR”), including exports and reexports from the United States. BIS previously issued similar orders covering Aeroflot, Azur Air, UTair, and Aviastar-TU. Aeroflot is a majority shareholder of Rossiya, and both airlines own and operate a number of US-origin aircraft, many requiring US-origin…
On April 25, 2022, the US Treasury Department’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (“OFAC”) re-issued General License 13R (“GL 13R”) and General License 15L (“GL 15L”), narrowing those authorized activities with GAZ Group and entities owned 50% or more by GAZ Group (“GAZ”), as further described below. OFAC also issued a set of updated FAQs to clarify the scope of authorized activities under these GLs. Our most recent blog post on these GLs is available…
On March 7, 2022, the US Treasury Department’s Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (“FinCEN”) issued an alert to financial institutions warning about potential attempts to evade US sanctions and other restrictions imposed on Russia and Belarus (“Alert”). The Alert includes red flags that financial institutions should review to help identify potential attempts to avoid sanctions, with a particular focus on convertible virtual currency (“CVC”), and also reminds companies of their reporting obligations under the Bank Secrecy…
On December 16, 2021, the US Treasury Department’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (“OFAC”) designated eight Chinese tech companies to the Non-SDN Chinese Military-Industrial Complex Companies (“NS-CMIC”) list pursuant to Executive Order 13959, as amended by Executive Order 14032, for their alleged involvement in supporting surveillance of ethnic and religious minorities in Xinjiang, China. On the next day, the US Commerce Department’s Bureau of Industry and Security (“BIS”) also added 37 new parties to the…