On February 1, 2024, President Biden issued Executive Order 14115 (“EO 14115”) targeting persons involved in activities that threaten the peace, security, and stability in the West Bank. Meanwhile, the UK government announced on 12 February 2024 sanctions on “extremist Israeli settlers” who have committed human rights abuses against Palestinian communities. Pursuant to EO 14115, four individuals were added to the Specially Designated Nationals and Blocked Persons List (“SDN List”). Concurrently, the US Treasury Department’s…
The leader of Russia’s political opposition, Alexei Navalny, died in a Siberian prison on February 16, just over a week before the two-year anniversary of Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine on February 24. Both Navalny’s death and the anniversary of the invasion were cited as the motivations behind the latest rounds of sanctions against Russia. Members of our global sanctions team in our offices in the US, UK, Sweden, Australia, and Canada summarize the latest…
On 14 December 2023, the UK Government introduced two regulations (The Russia (Sanctions) (EU Exit) (Amendment) (No. 4) Regulations 2023 and The Russia (Sanctions) (EU Exit) (Amendment) (No. 5) Regulations 2023) amending The Russia (Sanctions) (EU Exit) Regulations 2019 to impose further restrictions on goods, technology, and sources of funding that the UK Government considers could support Russia’s war against Ukraine. The majority of the amendments came into force on 15 December 2023; however a…
European authorities have reached political agreement on two new initiatives which come in the context of the ‘Freeze and Seize’ Task Force, set up by the Commission in March 2022, and which will contribute to the enforcement of EU sanctions. The measure include the harmonisation of criminal offences and penalties for the violation of EU sanctions, and a new Directive to bolster the EU’s powers of asset recovery and confiscation. Harmonisation of criminal offences for…