On January 11, 2021, the US State Department published a press release announcing Cuba’s designation as a State Sponsor of Terrorism (“SST”) for allegedly providing support for acts of international terrorism in granting safe harbor to terrorists. Cuba was originally designated as an SST in 1982 but was delisted in 2015 by President Barack Obama. Cuba’s SST designation follows increasingly stringent sanctions imposed by the US Government including restriction on remittances to Cuba and further…
On December 23, 2020, the US Commerce Department’s Bureau of Industry and Security (“BIS”) issued a final rule amending the Export Administration Regulations (“EAR”) by adding a new “Military End User List” (“MEU List”) as supplement no. 7 to part 744 of the EAR. The final rule adds 102 entities to the MEU List, which will consist of Chinese, Russian, and Venezuelan entities that the US Government has determined are “military end users” for purposes…
On September 24, 2020, the US Treasury Department’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (“OFAC”) published a Final Rule in the Federal Register that amended the Cuban Assets Control Regulations (“CACR”) to further implement the President’s foreign policy to deny the Cuban regime sources of revenue. Major elements of the changes include: Professional (Including Business) Meetings and Conferences: The Final Rule amends a CACR general license to eliminate the authorization for CACR parties to attend…
The Directorate of Defense Trade Controls (“DDTC”) within the US State Department recently issued a number of announcements regarding submissions related to Mergers, Acquisitions, and Divestitures (“MAD”) of US businesses regulated under the International Traffic in Arms Regulations (“ITAR”). These changes by DDTC were prompted by the COVID-19 crisis and end the need for parties in MAD transactions involving ITAR-regulated entities to submit hard copies to DDTC. By way of background, ITAR Section 122.4(b) requires…