On September 9, 2019, the US Commerce Department’s Bureau of Industry and Security (“BIS”) published two Frequently Asked Question (“FAQ”) documents (available here and here) on the Huawei Entity List and Temporary General License (“TGL”) and the Huawei TGL Extension (the amended TGL issued on August 21, 2019 is available here). See our blog post on the extension of the Huawei TGL here.
The key clarifications made by BIS in the two sets of FAQs include the following:
On August 5, 2019, President Trump issued Executive Order 13884 (“Venezuela EO”) blocking all property of the Government of Venezuela (“GOV”), a significant escalation of sanctions against the regime of President Maduro. Statements issued by the White House and State Department indicate that this escalation is meant to target the Maduro regime for its continued abuses of human rights and repression. The US Department of Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (“OFAC”) concurrently issued 12 amended general licenses and 13 new general licenses, new and revised FAQs, and guidance related to the provision of humanitarian assistance and support to the Venezuelan people.
The Venezuela EO targets only the GOV and entities owned 50% or more or otherwise controlled by the GOV, and thus does not place Venezuela under a full territorial embargo. Transactions with private Venezuelan parties that can be effected without the involvement of the GOV remain permissible.
The new sanctions prohibit virtually all US Person dealings with the GOV by blocking the property and interests in property of the GOV that are in the United States, that come within the United States, or that come within the possession or control of US Persons (i.e., US companies and their branches, US banks, US citizens and permanent resident aliens, any person physically located in the United States). GOV funds, contracts or other property interests that come into the possession or control of US Persons must be blocked and reported to OFAC.
On July 26, 2019, the President issued an Executive Order targeting Mali entitled “Blocking Property and Suspending Entry of Certain Persons Contributing to the Situation in Mali” (“Mali EO”) available here. A White House press release on the Mali EO is available here. The Mali EO provides authorization to the US Treasury Department, in consultation with the Department of State, to sanction individuals who are responsible for or complicit in actions that exacerbate the deteriorating situation in Mali. The US Treasury Department’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (“OFAC”) has thus far not issued a press release related to the Mali EO or added any individuals or entities to the Specially Designated Nationals and Blocked Persons List (“SDN List”).
The US Treasury Department’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (“OFAC”) issued an interim final rule effective June 21, 2019 amending the Reporting, Procedures and Penalties Regulations, 31 CFR Part 501 (the “RPPR Rule”), to add new requirements for reporting blocked or unblocked property and rejected transactions. The new reporting requirements apply to any US person (or person subject to US jurisdiction). Importantly, the rejected transaction reporting requirements, which previously applied to funds transfers rejected by financial institutions, now apply in the context of potentially any business transaction. This change could have significant implications for some companies in terms of compliance responsibilities and the need for related internal controls. The RPPR Rule does not provide much detail on the circumstances that would trigger the new reporting requirements in the context of the enumerated categories of transactions.
OFAC also added certain informational requirements for reports to clarify upfront the details needed to fully identify blocked or unblocked property and rejected transactions, and determine the authority under which they were blocked/unblocked/rejected. In announcing the RPPR Rule, OFAC indicated that in the past, these clarifications could sometimes require multiple time-consuming communications between OFAC and the submitter.